Kevin Stumpf is proposing to build a travel center on land he owns on the northwest side of the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and Poplar Avenue.

He envisions a 10,000-square-foot structure housing a convenience store, coffee shop and restaurant. Gasoline and diesel fuel pumps along with charging stations for electric vehicles would be outside.

Stumpf also wants to create an enclosed dog park and a trail connection leading to the nearby Holiday Creek Nature Area. A welcome center and a hotel could eventually be added to the site.

”I want this to be a wow factor from the moment you get off the highway to the moment you get inside,” he said.

-Messenger graphic by Nick Manwarren
This map shows where the proposed travel center would be located at U.S. Highway 20 and Poplar Avenue. The location is about a mile east of the juncture of U.S. Highway 20 and Webster County Road P59, which leads to Fort Dodge to the north and Coalville and Otho to the south.

The center would be a roughly $6 million investment, according to Stumpf.

He estimated that 35 to 40 people would work there in a mix of full-time and part-time jobs.

Stumpf said there are no similar places right on the highway for travelers to stop in the immediate area. The nearest, he said, is a Sparky’s station near U.S. Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 4 in Calhoun County.

He said travelers and their money are passing through Webster County without stopping.

The time frame for creating the travel center remains uncertain, however.

To make the project possible, Stumpf has to get the property rezoned from agricultural preservation status to general commercial status.

The Webster County Planning and Zoning Commission considered the proposal on April 13.

During that session the plan was criticized by people concerned about loose dogs, truck noise and the possibility of the building ruining a nearby resident’s view of the sun rising.

But it was concerns about how the travel center would impact traffic at the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and Poplar Avenue that ultimately prompted the commission to table the proposal.

Commissioners asked Stumpf to conduct a traffic impact study on that intersection. The commissioners appear unlikely to consider the plan again until after receiving that study.

”They want to see and hear what the traffic impact study comes up with,” said Jeff Johnson, the county’s planning and zoning administrator.

Stumpf said access to the center would be from Poplar Avenue only.

He has talked to Iowa Department of Transportation engineers about the site. He has also hired McClure Engineering Co., of Fort Dodge, to do the traffic impact study.