Board of Supervisors discusses possible solutions for troubled intersection of Old Highway 9 and Old Stage west of Waukon

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Monday, June 10 the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who updated the Board on his investigation of possible ways to improve safety at the intersection of Old Highway 9 and Old Stage Road. He said that there have been 15 accidents at the intersection over the last 11 years, none with fatalities; the majority of the accidents had resulted when vehicles traveling north or south had run the stop sign.
Rumble strips and “stop ahead” signs are already in place, so Ridenour suggested that the next step would be to install red metal flags on the “stop ahead” signs and to extend the no-passing lines on Old Highway 9 through the intersection. He also said that he could submit a request to the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a safety investigation of the intersection before taking the step of making the intersection a four-way stop, which he said could potentially result in rear-end collisions. The Board requested that Ridenour move forward with requesting the DOT investigation and to proceed with the installation of the red metal flags and the extension of the no-passing lines.
The Board also opened bids for the installation of a concrete box culvert south of Volney. Riehm Construction submitted the low bid of $77,697.91. Also bidding on the project were Brennan Construction ($81,888.00), Reilly Construction ($91,612.00) and Skyline Construction ($99,995.05). Ridenour said he would review the bids and return to the Board next week with his recommendation, noting that the low bid was significantly less than his estimated project cost of $88,022.00.
In other business, the Board approved the purchase of equipment and licensing for wireless internet access at the courthouse from Solutions and approved the annual contract with Solutions for software licensing and technical support.