The corridor that will connect Waukee to Interstate 80 now has a name and a design, a step toward attracting a flurry of new development, city leaders believe.
Kettlestone, a 1,500-acre mixed-use development with housing, shops and offices all connected with a network of ponds, parks and trails, will surround Alice's Road. City leaders unveiled the name and the plans for the project in a ceremony today.
The project is the culmination of nearly two decades of work to secure federal funding for an Interstate 80 interchange at Alice's Road and to create a plan for the development.
"It's really neat to see this thing to come to fruition," said Waukee Mayor Bill Peard, who said plans for the interchange were in the works when he joined the city council in 1998. "It's almost like having a kid. We've raised it for all these years, and (the unveiling) is like this kid's first day in college."
Kettlestone will stretch from I-80 to Hickman Road, mostly between 98th Street and Southwest LA Grant Parkway. It will feature eight miles of trails with three underpasses beneath Alice's Road. Plans also call for an amphitheater west of the I-80 interchange.
The project will include $59 million in public money, from Waukee, West Des Moines, the state and the federal government.
Read more about the project in Thursday's Register.