Mason City to reconstruct Highway 122 from Pierce Avenue to Monroe Avenue

MASON CITY – Mason City will undergo another large road construction project on its main road through town, building upon a former project completed late last decade.

The City of Mason City will hold a public information meeting Thursday, July 20, to discuss the proposed improvements of IA Highway 122 in Mason City from Pierce Avenue to Monroe Avenue. (PHOTO: Highway 122 and Monroe avenue in Mason City, looking east.)

The City of Mason City in partnership with the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) is planning and designing, along with the City’s consultant, WHKS, a project which involves the complete reconstruction of a segment of IA Highway 122. The reconstruction project includes street paving, sidewalks, traffic signals, street lighting, storm and sanitary sewer, and water utilities. This project is scheduled for a January 2025 letting, with construction occurring over the 2025 and 2026 construction seasons.

The Public Information Meeting is scheduled as noted in the meeting information below. All interested persons are invited to attend this meeting anytime during the posted meeting time that is convenient for you. Representatives from the City of Mason City, IDOT and WHKS will be present to discuss the project, answer questions, and document comments.

Meeting Information:

Date: July 20, 2023

Time: 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Location Mason City Room – Mason City Public Library, 225 2nd Street SE, Mason City, Iowa

Questions may be directed to the Mason City Engineering Department at (641) 421-3605.

In the late 2010’s, Mason City and the state of Iowa reconstructed Highway 122 from Monroe Avenue to Federal Avenue, both one-way streets.  The badly-needed project has helped pave the way for a resurgence of business activity in the area.

Highway 122 is heavily traveled east and west in Mason City. Cars gather speed east of Monroe Avenue along the downhill curve and race forth unimpeded to Federal Avenue, sometimes as fast as 70 mph. Police seem helpless (possibly disinterested?) to thwart the mayhem and are rarely seen preventing the lawlessness. Accidents are common:

On April 10, 2016, the lives of 5 young people were lost as a Jeep traveling no slower than 79 miles per hour crashed.

In 2021, an allegedly drunk Belmond woman racing through town on Highway 122 past Shopko crashed her Monte Carlo into a Mason City house, causing thousands of dollars in damages.

At 10:36 PM on Sunday, February 21, 2021, a vehicle left the roadway, traveled through deep snow and crashed into two poles in the 100 block of 6th Street SW in Mason City, causing thousands of dollars in damages.