Projects can take a long time from being announced to beginning, but if the bids come in on budget, people in Mount Vernon can expect to see work beginning on the Rachel Street infrastructure still this summer. That infrastructure for the corner near Mercy Clinic and Richardson, Hanson and Hotz Insurance extending westward will be the start of the new Kwik Star location in Mount Vernon.
On Monday, June 16, a notice went out for bids on the project after a public hearing was held. Construction on those improvements will begin this late summer and fall, with hopes to be completed by April. Kwik Star/Kwik Trip has already indicated they would love to begin work on the new gas and service station as soon as April, even if all infrastructure isn’t quite completed to be open in summer 2026.
The city also made some slight changes to add more businesses on the north side of Business 30 into the Hwy. 30 bypass plan. That would include the site of the former Mount Vernon Motel, which a developer is working on a plan for what may reside in that location. By extending the bypass plan, that would put some of the visual restrictions for new businesses that are to be constructed in those spaces while still allowing development to occur along those locations.
It’s the continued work of development of Business 30 after the bypass was constructed that will spell more things for Mount Vernon to come. On another front – the city tackled the first leg of the bicycle trail that will connect the city of Mount Vernon to Cedar Rapids, the Interurban Trail. Public Works director Eldon Downs and crew worked on the grading of the trail along city property along Bryant Road to see how long it would take to do this on their own. Because it was city property, they didn’t have to worry about the easements that may or may not be impacted. For the city, that starts getting a little more complicated as the project moves forward onto adjacent landowners properties.
That’s not to say it won’t happen in the future, just that it will require more work to navigate on some of that land than it did city property where crews could try gauging their path and plans. More thoughtful connections and mapping may be needed to extend the project further to the west. And it’s going to be a marathon more than a sprint to connect that trail from Mount Vernon to other communities.