City of Decorah hopes to save money by working with the Iowa DOT on the Highways 9 &52 intersection project

The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to re-do the HIghway 9 and 52 intersection in Decorah next year.

The City of Decorah will be piggybacking onto that project in an effort to save money on future water and sewer main projects.

Monday night the Decorah City council approved a proposal to spend $60,000 next fiscal year to have the Iowa DOT install utility casings underneath the intersection that could be later used for easier utility access to the west side of Highway 52 and the southwest side of Highway 9.

The city's utility casings would have to be paid for late in 2017 or early in 2018, so the cost will be budgeted in the city's Fiscal 2018 budget.

City officials estimate that the same work, if done in later years after the intersection project, would cost at least $90,000 and would also disrupt an otherwise new road surface.