Gravel road repairs require time, dry weather

It’s a story worth repeating: Secondary Roads in Jones County, throughout the State of Iowa, took a beating after a harsh winter and now a wet spring. 

County Engineer Derek Snead informed the Board of Supervisors during their April 30 meeting that crews were working on spreading spot rock on the roadways. 

“Some spots haven’t been bad all spring and are starting to get bad,” he said. “And some spots are still bad.” 

While contract rock could start any day, Snead said they are holding them until closer to June. 

“They understand,” he said of the delayed timeframe. 

This means the completion date for contract rock will be extended. 

“It frees up money for more spot rock,” Snead said. 

He reiterated that the gravel road issues are not unique to Jones County. 

“It’s a Midwest issue,” Snead said. “It’s the worst we’ve ever seen. Nothing compares to this being so widespread.” 

Susan Yario, who lives on 30th Street, and Randy Geneske, who lives around the block on 230th Avenue, both shared some recent issues they’ve had concerning the road conditions. 

“It’s terrible,” Yario said. “I’ve lived there for five years and have not seen it this bad.” 

She said when the maintainer comes down her road, it’s not improving anything. 

“What the solution?” she asked. 

Snead said with the roads as soft as they are, putting more rock down won’t help because the rock will eat it up as it sinks into the roadway. 

“Right now, time is the best thing. We need to let the roads heal with time,” Snead offered. He said weight restrictions are also helpful, which the supervisors approved should Snead feel the need to embargo any number of roads in the county. 

The southwest quadrant of Jones County tends to be the worst due to the black soil underneath the roadways. 

“The roads were built on spongy material,” explained Snead. “It’s great for crops, but not great for roads.” 

Geneske said that Linn County has bad spots on their gravel roads as well, but said when crossing into Jones County, the roads get worse. 

“Our roads are not crowned; they’re graded flat,” he said. “If the roads were graded, water would run into the ditch, and they would dry up faster.” 

Snead did not disagree, but said at the present time, Secondary Roads cannot reshape the roads in the condition they are in. 

“As soon as they dry out, we’ll be more aggressive with the shaping. That’s our number one goal,” he said. “Now, it’s tough to get the graders down a road.” 

Supervisor Ned Rohwedder commented that he’s just thankful that Jones County is not the only county dealing with deteriorating road conditions right now. 

“They’re dealing with this all over,” he said.