Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Henry County adjusts Quincy Avenue speed limits, reviews road projects
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT — The Henry County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 9 approved new speed limits on Quincy Avenue south of New London after a county study found safety concerns near homes and a steep hill.
The resolution, recommended by County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss, sets a 25 mph limit for the first 530 feet south of Easy Street and a 45 mph limit for the next 625 feet. The changes take effect immediately and should help improve safety around homes on a steep hill in this location.
“As time goes on, little things kind of pop up, and as we get those, we try to address them as we go,” Hotchkiss explained.
Hotchkiss said the gravel stretch of Quincy Avenue connects to New London’s 25 mph city limit zone and includes several residences and a hill that limits visibility. Extending the lower speed limit “to the top of the hill, or just past it,” provides a smoother transition for drivers entering or leaving town, he told supervisors. The board approved the measure unanimously.
Hotchkiss also reported on ongoing maintenance across the county. Crews are finishing shoulder work on 220th Street and Franklin Avenue and hauling rock along W-55 south of Salem and J-20 west of Salem. The county is taking advantage of dry weather to complete those projects before winter.
“We’ve been working on a project on 162nd street,” Hotchkiss told the board. “It is a smaller bridge that had some wood piling underneath there that we encased with concrete.”
According to Hotchkiss, crews use a half shell of a culvert pipe bolted up against the bridge plank and filled with concrete to accomplish this job.
“So, we have to dig down below the streambed to set those in,” he said. “The guys got that done and we put revetment around there, so we've extended the life of that bridge.”
Mowing and brush clearing are ongoing along J-20 and Franklin Avenue, and the county is waiting for a contractor to begin the 235th Street bridge project, which is now expected to start in November.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
