Marengo requests speed signs

MARENGO — The City of Marengo has applied for speed feedback signs through an Iowa Department of Transportation program.

The signs would be installed by the State at no cost to the city.

The electronic signs would not record speed and would not be used to issue speeding tickets, said Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray during a Marengo City Council meeting last month.

The signs will display drivers’ speeds as they approach.

An application to the DOT asks for signs to be placed in the westbound lane of Highway 6, west of Eastern Avenue under the 50 mph speed limit sign and in the eastbound lane of Highway 6 west of V62.

Marengo is also requesting a sign for the eastbound lane of Iowa Highway 212 west of Cherry Avenue beneath the 35 mph speed limit and for the westbound lane of Iowa 212 south of Pine St. beneath the 25 mph speed limit sign.

The State will pay for the signs, but they become the property of the city for the purpose of maintenance, said Gray.

The signs are solar and have four years left of their five-year warranties.

The signs are not mobile, said Gray. They are designed to be permanent, and the State would like the city to leave them in place for five years.

The State installs the signs, and they are placed only on State highways, Gray said.