County will share in paying the cost of dust control on Quarry Hill Road

Dust control has begun on Quarry Hill Road.

An Iowa DNR employee at the Manchester Office, Clark Ott, has finished a traffic count on the road which showed 36 vehicles using it in a 30-minute period.  At that rate, 72 vehicles per hour were using the road and the Iowa DNR Manchester Office uses a standard that a gravel road with more than 30 vehicles an hour needs dust control.

Winneshiek County Engineer Lee Bjerke says Bruening Rock Products, which operates the quarry on Quarry Hill Road, has begun implementing dust control measures.  Traffic on the road has increased lately because trucks have been hauling rock and fill out of the quarry and because traffic on Highland Drive and Quarry Hill has increased as an "unofficial detour" around the Locust Road project.

Winneshiek County Supervisors Monday morning agreed to do cost sharing with Bruening's for 30 days of dust control.  The total cost of the measures is expected to be in the range of $3,000 to $5,000.

Later Monday, Highland Drive neighbor Bridget Casper told Decorah City Council members she received an e-mail from County Auditor Ben Steines saying the county plans to include Highland Drive on its next traffic study.  She also thanked Decorah Police for putting their electronic speed sign on Highland Drive and said City Engineer Jeremy Bril said speed bumps will be installed on Highland Drive during the Locust Road construction project.