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Madison County moves ahead on Rustic Avenue bridge, safety upgrades and bundled federal bridge bids
Summary
County roads engineer outlined federal-aid plans for a $625,000 Rustic Avenue bridge, state HSIP safety work and participation in a statewide bridge-bundling grant that placed three Madison County bridges among 33 awarded in the first round.
Mike Hackett, Madison County secondary roads engineer, told the Board of Supervisors the county will approve final plans and right-of-way contracts this session for a Rustic Avenue bridge funded with federal aid. The bridge is estimated at $625,000, will be roughly 75 feet long and 24.5 feet wide, and requires acquiring additional land from adjacent owners through fair-market-value purchases or, rarely, condemnation.
Hackett said the county follows federal regulations for environmental, cultural and property acquisition reviews. He cautioned the board that federally funded bridge projects often take three to five years from funding to construction because of required studies and permitting, referencing a recent four-year timeline for another local bridge.
Separately, Hackett and staff summarized a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) project in the county’s northwest corner. The joint project among Dallas, Guthrie, Madison and Adair counties is estimated at about $2 million; Madison County’s portion is roughly $600,000 and the county received about $310,000 in HSIP funds. The work will widen pavement and shoulders, add rumble strips and improve markings where accident history justified safety investments.
Hackett also described a statewide federal-bridge “bundling” program in which standard bridge designs across counties are packaged for competitive bidding. Madison County had three bridges accepted among 33 awarded in the program’s first round. The bundling strategy is intended to improve contractor competition and cost efficiency; officials said they expect an approximately 80/20 federal funding split in some cases and emphasized that no local property-tax dollars are planned for these projects.
The assistant engineer summarized that one safety grant award (state-funded) of roughly $430,000 will target several curves with documented accidents; those improvements are tentatively planned for 2026. Hackett closed by reminding the board that public input and grant paperwork are part of the process and that final project lettings typically coordinate with the Iowa DOT schedule.
The board approved related resolutions on final plans, right-of-way agreements and work agreements to advance letting and grant submittals. The county will continue outreach and required documentation for federal and state funding eligibility.
