Quarry Hill Road/Highland Drive residents voice complaints about dust and traffic on their roads

While the Locust Road detour officially uses Ridge Road to get around construction traffic, residents of Highland Drive and Quarry Hill Road say they've seen an increase in traffic since the detour began.

The traffic increase came at the same time trucks were hauling rock out of the quarry.

Property owner Bridget Casper met Monday with county supervisors and told them, "It's so dangerous."  She told of a personal experience in which she was following a truck hauling rock when a second truck came in the opposite direction and caused a whiteout.

Another property owner, Cheri Lane, said the roads are now "very unsafe to travel."

County supervisors told the residents there were many limits to what they could do.  Lowering the speed limit would require paying for a traffic study first at a cost of $10,000 to $12,000.  State regulations prevent counties from imposing many types of highway dust control.

Neighbors might approach the Decorah City Council to find out whether city officials are more willing to take speed control measures in the city portion of Highland Drive.  County supervisors continued their discussion of what they could and could not do after the neighbors left and will contact regional Iowa DNR officials for more information.