County, residents talk fixes for Dales Ford Road

A Jones County road that was once a horse path is under the microscope of county officials and residents alike as they try to figure out how to fix chronic water-drainage issues plaguing the road. 

A group of neighbors came to the latest Jones County Board of Supervisors meeting Feb. 17 equipped with ideas on how to improve their beloved Dales Ford Road located northeast of Scotch Grove.

The curvy gravel road sits off Eby’s Mill Road and follows the contours of the Maquoketa River before ending roughly 500 feet before the riverbank. It snakes through a smattering of homes and farm fields, and its northern-most half cuts through dense woodland packed with old-growth trees that create a canopy over the road. A number of the homes along the road were built without setbacks, and some of their front doors are less than a stone’s throw away from the road’s center line. 

Jones County Engineer Derek Snead said these characteristics mean the road has been a difficult one to maintain for years. He said the road’s lack of ditches means water sometimes pools on the road, and the thick tree overhang blocks the heat of the sun from drying the road surface after the winter thaw and rainstorms. 

With no specific plan in mind on how to alleviate these issues, Snead called a public hearing to discuss ideas with residents and to hear their experiences living along the scenic road. 

“There has been lots of conversation in the past with Dales Ford,” Snead said, adding that the road is unique because it has not seen a major grading project despite the number of homes and the amount of traffic it carries.

He said potential grading projects can run the gamut from county staff digging out ditches in places, to a much larger project in which the county hires a contractor to raise the road surface and dig permanent ditches. This more expensive option, he said, can greatly improve the longevity and quality of the road. A larger-scale project is more intrusive to landowners, Snead said, but is more effective, while a small-scale project would be less invasive but would be a “band-aid” that would only last 5-10 years. 

The south-most portion of Dales Ford Road has ditches that drain water and has been subject to past improvement projects. However, a drive farther north along the road reveals portions with no ditch at all on either side and multiple spots at which the fields and trees bordering the road sit at a higher elevation than the roadbed. 

“Any gravel road needs a road surface above where the water needs to go,” Snead explained. “…To raise the road, we need more space. This roadway was established in the mid 1800s. It has 30 foot on each side of the center line, and that is just not enough for a typical granular secondary road template.”

He said an additional 10-15 feet on each side would be needed to create proper ditches.

Folks in attendance who live along the road shared mixed feelings about a roadway revamp. Some advocated for a large project and some requested a smaller one that would maintain the scenic, tree-covered aesthetic of the road. 

Shelley Stickfort, who lives about two-thirds of the way up the road, said she believes a full revamp is needed. She believes the current roadway is a hindrance to vehicles. 

“A well-engineered, long-term solution will improve safety, ensure reliability … and support the residents and local businesses,” she said during the hearing.

Resident Quentin Davis said over time, the curve near his property has slowly been graded into the ditch. 

“On the north side of the road, where the mailman comes through, is just a mud hole,” Davis said. “All the gravel goes downhill into the ditch.”

Davis also said he isn’t opposed to the county removing some of his trees along the roadway. 

“My timber is along the east side,” he said. “It’s a spot that stays wet or frozen. If they need to come in and take a couple trees out, that’s fine. Take them out. It’s a section I never use, but everyone else down the road does.”

Resident Steve McCormick said safety and visibility is also a concern, as trees are encroaching on the roadway in some spots. He recalled a near-fatal crash in which a combine collided with a car. 

“If we aren’t going to fix the road right, why waste the money?” McCormick asked. “In front of my house, the grader cuts the corner in front of my mailbox, and it’s been cut to where I don’t have a ditch in front of my house, and the water runs up against my foundation.”

Other residents said they have vegetation planted near the road -- including fruit trees -- that they asked to be untouched. 

Jeremy Rickels was less enthusiastic about a large project. He said he’s lived on Dales Ford Road for 45 years. 

“Dale’s Ford is an absolutely beautiful road, and it does evolve,” he said. A portion of his property borders one of the narrower parts of the road and is across the street from a property owned by Nancy Flynn. Flynn’s home is close to the road, and a line of trees and brush in her yard runs along the street’s edge. Snead said to dig out a ditch in that area, Flynn’s trees would need to be removed or the road would need to be shifted onto Rickels’s property. 

“My ground is flush with the road, which, good luck getting that right,” Rickels said. “I’m not going to voluntarily give you 50 feet of my property to dig a ditch that doesn’t need to be there. Now, putting in a swail to get water to move? I’m all for that. I can do that myself with a skid loader. I just haven’t done it because I don’t know where the phone line is. We can get the water to drain without getting four-foot ditches. We don’t need it.”

Rickels said he doesn’t want Flynn’s trees to be removed either, and Flynn has said as much in past communication with county officials. 

Rickels said he doesn’t mind a wet road, because the tree canopy that causes it is so scenic. 

“I respect the fact that you guys letting us work with you on it, because Dales Ford is not your typical road,” Rickels said.

Snead reiterated that there is no timetable or project design in mind and thanked the residents for sharing their thoughts. 

Snead said his office would keep open the lines of communication about the road.

Other business

• The Supervisors opened five bids for contract rock and were expected to approve a contract at this week’s meeting. 

• Snead said the county received bids from contractors to install a new box culvert on Stone City Road. The job has a “short fuse,” as Assistant to the Engineer Todd Postel put it, with an approaching late start date of April 6. Estimates put the total cost of the project at around $700,000. 

• Snead said the county’s stockpile of road salt had dwindled a bit and the county obtained some from the Iowa Department of Transportation. He said the county was also working to clear brush from some of the public right-of-way around the county.  

• The supervisors voted to abate the property taxes on three mobile homes that were recently removed from MontiPark Mobile Home Park in Monticello. 

• The Supervisors approved tax liens for delinquent sewer bills at two properties in Fairview: 23131 County Road E34 and 22963 County Road E34.