Plans for a new transportation system to reduce the drive time and eliminate heavily congested areas in Ames could be approved by the city council by December, officials said.

Scott Logan, traffic engineer for the city of Ames, said the new transportation system will include extending and widening streets as well as making improvements for bicycles and CyRide.

“[We’ve] incorporated changes to accommodate future and existing traffic problems,” Logan said.

The entire project is expected to take 20 years and cost close to $1 billion with $61 million in roadway improvements alone, he said.

Cathy Brown, campus planner at Iowa State, said the university is working with city officials to create an Elwood Drive bypass of campus and improve the intersection at Stange Road and 13th Street.

“Our goal is to try to reduce the `through traffic’ on campus,” Brown said. “So it reduces the [number of] conflicts for bicycles and pedestrians.”

Logan said Iowa State is very concerned with getting a campus bypass included in the plan. He said Iowa State will work with the city to provide funding for the $7 million project.

Brown said the funding Iowa State will provide will come from the Park and Institutional Road Program, a state-funded program.

“We believe [the new plan] will help,” she said.

Logan said he is also optimistic about the plan

“We’re able to determine that with these improvements we will accommodate the traffic level with an acceptable service,” he said. “I think if we keep on top of the traffic growth, we’ll be maintaining or lowering the amount of travel time.”