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County official says DOT agreed to redesign curve to improve safety; paving may slip to spring
Summary
Des Moines County secondary-roads staff told the board a consultant-specified 35-mph curve without banking was found on a half-mile stretch of old highway; DOT agreed to reshape the alignment to provide banking for a 45–50 mph curve, improving safety but possibly delaying paving until next spring.
Des Moines County secondary-roads staff told the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 18 that a consultant had specified an urban-style 35-mph curve without banking on a half-mile segment of the old highway near Minneapolis, a design mismatch for the existing 55-mph roadway. County staff pushed the Iowa Department of Transportation to revise the plan, and DOT’s assistant district engineer proposed reshaping the pavement profile to add banking meant for roughly 45–50 mph traffic.
The change, the county official said, avoids a full redesign that would require environmental clearances and could add a year or more to the project timeline. "The wrong curve got put in," the official said, and "they thought they could do some reshaping where the actual road is shaped in and get a curve in there that's got some banking and is designed for around 45 to 50 mph traffic." He added that the modification should improve safety for school-route traffic and other local drivers.
Why it matters: The adjustment reduces the risk that drivers — including students leaving school — will encounter an unbanked curve at higher speeds. The county official framed the change as a safety-oriented compromise that keeps the project moving without triggering a full environmental-review delay.
Details and votes: The county’s secondary-roads office also reported routine maintenance and culvert installations tied to a DOT interchange contractor. The official introduced retiring employee Scott Salsbury and a new hire, and noted that final paving might slip to next spring depending on weather and schedule changes caused by the design modification.
Quotations from the meeting underscore the practical trade-offs the county weighed: "You could add a year or two" for an exhaustive redesign, the official said, but the DOT and county agreed on a middle-ground reshaping. "I think long term it's the right decision," he said, adding that the change provides "plenty adequate" geometry for the location.
Next steps: County staff will coordinate with DOT and the contractor on the revised design and schedule. The board did not take formal action on the design change during the Nov. 18 meeting; staff indicated they will continue to monitor timing and weather impacts on final paving.
