Letter to | the Editor

To the Editor:

I write this letter to address concerns and questions regarding the safety improvements to Evergreen Ave. and 200th St. (H-34). This intersection was recognized by the county over eight years ago as a major safety concern, not only to local residents but neighboring counties as well. 

When working for the county, the engineer and I both agreed that old 34 west of Red Oak needed improvement. We recognized that the flashing lights intersection and Evergreen Ave. intersection should be re-graded to improve sight distance first before widening the pavement. The intersections were entered into the FY 2010 five-year construction program to be graded to improve sight distance with a completion date in 2013, to be re-paved in 2014. 

As we began to review the intersections, relocating Evergreen was a consideration but was not well-received by the public. The general consensus of the supervisors, at that time, was to keep Evergreen as a project, and keep the roadway alignment straight. After that decision was made, I feel forward progress was not pursued like it normally should have been. 

I retired from the county in July of 2013. Having been involved in the construction program, knowing grading was to be completed in 2013, I kept an eye on the Evergreen project. I stopped into the engineer’s office to visit about the status of Evergreen, but the engineer was out of the office at the time. I was told by a staff member that the Evergreen project was being left to “die on the vine.” If this was the attitude, then this was very unprofessional, a tragedy and a terrible disservice to Montgomery County and the traveling public. For an area where a safety concern exists and was recognized, to put this project aside, I do not understand that kind of thinking. It was taken out of the five-year program, unbeknownst to the supervisors. 

Now the plans for widening come to the surface. Residents were informed of the upcoming construction project to widen H-34, thinking that the Evergreen intersection safety improvement was going to happen. When informed that the intersection safety improvement would not be part of the construction, it raised concerns among the locals and those concerns were expressed to the supervisors. 

The Evergreen intersection was ordered to be put back on the five-year program at a meeting in November, 2015. A public meeting was set for January, 2016 to discuss further details of the project. In a meeting of over two hours, Evergreen intersection was discussed only briefly. Now it is back in the five-year program with a 2018 completion date. As 2018 approaches, I feel no steps have been taken to move forward since the public meeting to achieve the 2018 completion date. Recently discovered, it is now being proposed to push this completion date back two years to year 2020. 

So we have a project based on a major safety traffic concern, conceived in 2010, and yet we want to wait 10 years to complete it. This project will have gone through two five-year construction program cycles. I understand projects being moved back or pushed ahead at times, but I don’t understand dropping a project out of the program, and I have never seen a project of this magnitude have to go through two five-year construction programs. I think with the grant money we receive and hear about, it would free up local money to be spent on safety projects. 

Lately, I have heard that building a bridge, that we do need, would take pressure off of the Evergreen intersection. That is not true. It does not change the road profile or improve sight distance. The intersection is as unsafe with one car passing through it as it is with 200 cars passing through it. The warning lights were a step forward, and a speed study was done, but we need to do more. I’ve seen no plans, no designs, no correspondence, no right-of-way negotiations, and no detailed cost estimate over the past eight years. I have only heard just one big number of, “It will cost about this much.”

For as long as the project has been under consideration, it should be shelf-ready by now. That’s what the five-year plan is for –  planning. I don’t understand why we have our heels dug in so hard on not doing this safety project. I do not understand why we feel the need to drop or push back this project and I do not understand why we continue to let it happen. The question is not why we can’t do it. The question is why do we not want to do it. 

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, someone gets hurt or worse. That is why I express my concerns. For not to have done so, I would carry that regret with me forever. 

I think we should be more aggressive and proactive in getting this done. I think we should build better relationships in Montgomery County throughout the rural community, become better servants, and be accessible and more understanding towards common goals. 

Donnie Bond, 

Red Oak

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

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