The Cedar Falls city council will consider approving the first phase of a planned $32.5 million University Avenue reconstruction project following a public hearing Monday night (Dec. 21, 2015).

Phase one of the plan -- rebuilding the former U.S. Highway 218 corridor from Iowa Highway 58/27 to McClain Drive in front of Black Hawk Village Shopping Center and College Square Mall -- is scheduled to begin in spring of 2016 at an estimated cost of $14 million.

Monday's public hearing is set at 7 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers. Pending city council action afterward, sealed bids on Phase I of the project are tentatively scheduled to be opened on Jan. 13 at 2 p.m.

The entire University Avenue project in Cedar Falls calls for narrowing road from six lanes to four and adding six roundabouts between Midway Drive and Hudson Road. If everything goes as scheduled, construction on the complete project would be finished in 2018.

The Cedar Falls city council considered three different design options for the University Avenue corridor, before choosing the controversial six-roundabout plan earlier this year. The council approved the project on a 6-1 vote in February, despite the opposition of many residents.

Plans to rebuild the Waterloo portion of University Avenue remain on hold indefinitely. The Iowa Department of Transportation has not yet transferred jurisdiction of the state-owned road to the city.

More From 97.7 KCRR