The City of Waterloo has contracted HR Green, Inc. to complete a Limited Site Investigation on the former Weissman Steel site located east of Black Hawk Creek and bound by U.S. Highway 218 and University Avenue to the north and south, respectively. The company will assess both the surface and subsurface conditions in an effort to help facilitate its redevelopment.
Past activities including metal fabrication, salvaging, and engine crushing and splitting operations contributed to site contamination. Previous investigations identified elevated levels of lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The City has utilized the site for brick and log storage since the mid 1990s.
The former Weissman Steel site will soon gain access from University Avenue as a part of the City’s $28 million + overall corridor redevelopment initiative. The project will reconstruct the entire University segment from west corporate limits to Highway 63. Goals of the work include improving traffic conditions for efficiency, turning movements, and time spent in corridor. The City is also actively seeking ways to improve accessibility and efficiencies to sites along corridor to create new economic opportunities. This former Weissman site is currently underutilized from a land use perspective and this brownfield initiative will work to market and move ahead for its redevelopment.
