Floyd County Secondary Roads Dept. plans road and bridge projects for next five fiscal years

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County plans to spend more than $11 million in the next five fiscal years on county road and bridge projects, paid for primarily with state and federal funds.

County Engineer Jacob Page, who has been in the office a little over a year now, presented his Secondary Roads Department budget and five-year project plan to the county Board of Supervisors at the board’s meeting this week.

Page said the budget numbers for his department are the same as the supervisors had already approved, but are presented in the format that the Iowa DOT wants to see each year.

He went through each of the projects that will be using Farm to Market, Federal Assistance or local funds.

Farm to Market (FM) funds are state funds coming primarily from the state’s fuel tax, used to maintain and improve the road infrastructure that connects Iowa’s farms and rural communities to local and regional markets.

The Federal Assistance (FA) funds are used to replace or rehabilitate deficient bridges and local roads. The program is administered by the Iowa DOT and is funded by federal and state sources.

Projects for Fiscal Year 2024, that begins July 1:

• “The first project is a bridge replacement project on Victory Avenue, over the Little Cedar. That one is going to be let in July. The final plans will be going out next Tuesday,” Page said. The estimated price of that project is $2 million, in FA funds.

• “And then we have our day labor project that’s locally funded that we will be doing on 130th Street just west of River Road, a bridge replacement with a twin box culvert, and that one we’re hoping to do this July,” Page said. Cost of that project is listed as $170,000 in local funds.

• The next project is a box culvert replacement on Packard Avenue just north of County Road B60 and south of 260th Street. “That one we’re hoping to do in August as long as we can get the box delivered then,” he said. Project cost is $170,000 in local funds.

• The last project in Fiscal Year 2024, to be done next construction season, is a surface milling and then hot mix asphalt (HMA) resurfacing on County Road T64 from Shadow Avenue east and then north 7½ miles to the Mitchell County line, he said. Project cost is $2.3 million – $1.3 million in FM funds plus $1 million in FA funding.

Projects for Fiscal Year 2025 are:

• Repainting pavement markings, $170,000 in FM funds. “We’re doing that this year,” Page said. “They’re looking at doing the pavement markings in August and then we just do those every other year. That’s kind of been our normal process.”

• Another bridge replacement project, on 170th Street over Flood Creek just south of the Avenue of the Saints; $750,000 in FA funds.

Projects for Fiscal Year 2026 are:

• HMA resurfacing of County Road T47 from Highway 14 south 6½ miles to County Road B60; $1.5 million in FM funds.

• “Also in that fiscal year we’re looking at a bridge replacement project on T42 over the Cedar River. T42 is River Road,” Page said. “Some people call it Orchard Bridge – that’s a big bridge there.” Cost is listed as $1.75 million for a new poured Portland cement concrete bridge.

Projects for Fiscal Year 2027 are:

• Pavement markings again, on the regular two-year cycle; $170,000 in FM funding.

• A bridge replacement project on County Road B45 over Flood Creek, a couple of miles west of ​​14; $700,000 – $140,000 in local funding plus $560,000 on FA funds.

Project for Fiscal Year 2028:

• “I have put in an HMA resurfacing on B60 from T64 east 5.8 miles to the Nashua City limits,” Page said. “B60’s in fairly rough shape. That’s one I’m going to evaluate as we get closer to see what type of project.

“I want to do a resurfacing, but I’m not 100% sure that road’s in good enough shape for a resurfacing, so I’m going to be working with the Asphalt Paving Association on that,” he said.

Page said the five-year plan is a pretty good use of the funds expected to be available.

“If funding changes in the future where we’re able to get more funds we’ll look at adding projects then,” he said.

The total planned expenditure for the five fiscal years is $11.18 million. That is made up of $4.64 million in FM funds, $480,000 in local county funds, and $6.06 million in FA funds.

The plan is for $4.64 million in Fiscal Year 2024, $920,000 in Fiscal Year 2025, $3.25 million in Fiscal Year 2016, $1.5 million in Fiscal Year 2027, and $1.5 million in Fiscal Year 2028.