Motorists on Greene County paved roads can legally drive 60 mph with the July 1 change by the governor of the speed limit on state roads. The county supervisors at their June 29 meeting discussed speed limits with sheriff Jack Williams and county engineer Wade Weiss.
Williams said he had received several phone calls asking if the county would change the speed limit.
Weiss said he’d prefer to have time to do an engineering study prior to making a change. He said his department had already placed advisory speed limits and placed chevrons on all curves in the county. He said he and assistant county engineer Tanner Stauffer would need to review no-passing zones and stop bars. “I agree that we need to go with the law now. We can go back and change something to 55 if we need to, but I don’t see that happening with the advisory signs we have on the curves,” Weiss said.
Weiss said that if some roads were posted with speed limits other than 60 mph it would be confusing.
He also explained that with the faster speed limit, no-passing zones need to be changed from 900 ft sight distance to 1,000 ft. He said his office would need to review rumble strips and possibly change lines and signs. In some places those markings may already be long enough to meet the 1,000 ft safety requirement. “It’s going to take some time to go through that,” he said.
He estimated there are about 50 speed limit signs that will need to be changed. Decals may be placed over the speed on current signs until they can be changed out.
No motion or resolution was required as the county is merely changing with the state code.
Earlier in the meeting Weiss discussed a possible road project on Hwy 4 eight miles north of Jefferson where Hwy 4 curves to the west and P-29 continues north. The intersection is posted with two separate stop signs for southbound drivers continuing from P-29 to Hwy 4 Serious accidents have occurred when those drivers fail to stop.
Weiss and Stauffer met with IDOT officials and property owner Shane Olson, who would be affected by the project. According to Weiss, the majority of northbound drivers continue north onto P-29; few drivers continue west on Hwy 4.
Weiss reported the Iowa Department of Transportation has access to grant funds to improve safety and is very interested on working on that curve. Weiss said the intersection would be reconfigured to resemble the curve just south of the county line where Hwy 4 curves to the east. The road would be “bent into the curve” to provide good sight distances. A right turn lane would be built from Hwy 4 onto P-29, eliminating the two short sections of straight road. The DOT already owns the right-of-way. The only expense to the county would be some tree removal. The supervisors approved county employees’ salaries for FY 27 (effective July 1, 2026). All salaries are increasing 3.25 percent except those in the sheriff’s office. Those salaries are set by the state. Weiss said he increased the salaries of the shop superintendent and the maintenance superintendent more than 3.25 percent. The position of maintenance superintendent is currently vacant. Weiss explained the higher wage may make it easier to fill the position.
