Firm to Study Habitat of Bat Holding Up Work on Alice's Road Interchange

An environmental consulting firm will be paid about $35,000 to determine how the habitat of an endangered Indiana bat species will be affected by the Alice’s Road/105th Street interchange, the Des Moines Register reports.

The Waukee City Council voted 4-0 Monday to hire Stantec Consulting Services Inc. to do a survey and radio tracking of the bat, which is on both the federal and state endangered species lists.

The city of West Des Moines, which has partnered with Waukee on the interchange project, will split the cost with Waukee. Waukee City Administrator Tim Moerman told the Register he expected no delays in getting West Des Moines' approval.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which requested the study, estimates the Indiana bat population at about 387,000, less than half the population when the species was listed as endangered in 1967, the Des Moines Register reported.

West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer said discovery of the bat about five-eighths of a mile from the proposed $31 million interchange is frustrating. It was discovered in connection with an earlier West Des Moines project, according to the newspaper. In that study, one female Indiana bat was discovered.

The survey will likely be completed between May 15 and Aug 31. The netting survey will probably be done in late May or early June after reproductive female bats have migrated back to Iowa, the newspaper said.

The survey would cost $19,728 and the cost of the subsequent radio tracking would be $15,627. If there are no bats found during the study, the cities won’t have to pay for the tracking.

Once complete, the Alice's Road corridor in Waukee will include 1,700 acres of potential development; a mix of retail, office, research and development and housing alternatives; a series of unique districts focused around major cross streets, linked by a system of active and passive open spaces; interconnected street and trail network; greenway that offers recreational, storm water and open space functions – an interconnected system of parks, green space and water features linked by a network of bike trails and sidewalks; and a hierarchy of street types that will accommodate vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and transit options.

Road and sewer construction has begun as Alice's Road expands from University Avenue to Ashworth Road and beyond.

Starting March 6, Alice's Road from Ashworth Road southbound to the south side of I-80 was closed for sewer construction, according to the city of Waukee website. Construction is expected to be completed by about April 18.