Highway 75 railroad crossing construction to affect Merrill businesses

Yahoo

03-04-2025

MERRILL, Iowa (KCAU) — The Iowa Department of Transportation says both the north and southbound lanes on Highway 75 at the BNSF railroad crossing south of Merrill are scheduled to close starting April 7. This will allow crews to replace the railroad crossing surface, while the Iowa DOT will start pavement replacement of Highway 75 at the crossing.
'All of the southbound traffic will be coming down Main Street and crossing the railroad tracks and going south, the old 75 or third street out of town,' Merrill Mayor Bruce Norgaard said. 'So Larry's Automotive is going to have a lot of traffic coming around the corner, and Cuginis restaurant, an Italian restaurant, is going to have a lot of traffic going past there.'
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Norgaard said that while the construction takes place near Merrill, there will also some brief traffic changes with the northbound lane.
'All northbound traffic during this ten, 12-day construction process with railroad tracks, the northbound traffic is going to be turning to Hinton and going east to K-49 or Mahogany Avenue and north to C-38,' he said. 'But the southbound traffic is going to be going over the 30, still going south on 75.'
The owners of two local businesses, Lampe Incorporated and Cuginis Italian Restaurant, say the start of this project has been long overdue.
'It needs to be done,' Lampe Incorporated owner Melissa Lampe said. 'The railroad crossing has been not functioning well for a couple of years, and it stops traffic for a long period of time sometimes.'
'There's some issues with the pavement, and it's something that needs to be done,' Cuginis owner Marco Deluna said.
Deluna says he believes that there's a hidden upside to this construction project.
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'It's going to cause chaos here in town, but also it's going to be a great opportunity for the small restaurants, for people who might know and might not know about it, and probably be a good chance so that people pass by and see us,' Deluna said.
Mayor Norgaard said he wanted to remind residents during this project to take their time while on the road.
'I hope people are very cautious and careful when you're coming through through town,' he said. 'You'll always hope that everyone uses common sense and they're patient because it's going to take patience.'
Iowa DOT officials say they expect this closure to last for 12 days, weather permitting.
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