Three dangerous intersections in Davenport will get safety upgrades, with the help of $6 million in federal funding. The funding to implement nationally recognized traffic safety strategies comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, according to a city release.

Davenport applied for the grant in summer 2025. Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $982 million to 521 projects across 48 states, the city release said. The federal grant will cover 80 percent of Davenport’s total project costs, with the city contributing $1.5 million.

In the past four fiscal years nationwide, the SS4A grant program has provided $3.9 billion in federal funding to over 2,000 communities in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Flowers and a pole decal memorialize past crashes at the Kimberly-Fairmount intersection in Davenport, which saw two fatalities and four serious injuries between 2018 and 2022 (photo by Jonathan Turner).

The selected Davenport intersections were identified as priorities in the adopted Quad Cities, Kewanee & Muscatine Traffic Safety Action Plan and through collaborative safety studies involving the city of Davenport, the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, and independent engineering firms.

The recommendations reduce conflict points, slow vehicle speeds, and improve visibility and crossing conditions for pedestrians.

“The selected projects reflect locations where targeted design changes can make a meaningful difference,” Clay Merritt, Davenport’s Director of Engineering and Capital Projects, said in the recent release. “The goal is to improve safety while maintaining efficient traffic operations.”

A new roundabout will replace the four-way stop light intersection of Kimberly Road and Fairmount Street, three miles west of NorthPark Mall (photo by Jonathan Turner).

The three projects are:

• Kimberly Road (U.S. 6) and Fairmount Street –

The city will convert this four-way signal intersection into a roundabout. This improvement was recommended through a road safety assessment Iowa DOT and FHWA.

Statistics show that roundabouts cut serious crashes by up to 78%. Motor vehicle crashes between 2018 and 2022 at the intersection at Kimberly and Fairmount have killed two people and seriously injured four people.

• Brady Street (U.S. 61) at Veterans Memorial Parkway and 65th Street –

Planned upgrades include new dual left westbound directions and turn lanes in both eastbound and improved pedestrian crossings. From 2018 to 2022, this location experienced two fatalities and one serious injury.

• West 65th Street and North Brady Frontage Road –

A single lane roundabout will be constructed at this T intersection near Kwik Star and Menards. The improvement was also recommended through an Iowa DOT funded traffic safety study conducted by a third-party engineering firm.

Davenport has other roundabouts throughout the city, including one that opened in August 2024 at the foot of the Government Bridge. There are three near the Amazon plant in the area of Research Parkway & Division. There is another at Veterans Memorial Parkway & Jersey Ridge.

Construction timelines for the new street work will be announced as design work progresses, according to the city.

A new Davenport roundabout opened at the base of the Government Bridge in August 2024, celebrated here by then-Mayor Mike Matson (right) and Arsenal commander Col. Joe Parker (credit: City of Davenport).

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Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner -- who has called the Quad Cities home since 1995 -- has decades of experience as a professional journalist and pianist. His experience writing for daily newspapers, public radio and local TV encompasses a wide range of subjects, including the arts, politics, education, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism.

Jonathan most loves writing about music and the arts (which he now does as a freelancer for the River Cities Reader and Visit Quad Cities). He has a passion for accompanying musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, including playing for QC Music Guild's 2023 productions of RENT and SWEENEY TODD. He is assistant music director and accompanist for the spring 2025 Music Guild show, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. He wrote an original musical based on The Book of Job, which premiered at Playcrafters in 2010. Jonathan penned a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, that was published by The History Press in 2016, and a travel guide about the QC published by Reedy Press in 2022.