Residents who live along a gravel road in Lee County are again calling for the Board of Supervisors to improve it.
Bette Burke says she has lived along 255th Street, between the Avenue of the Saints & the Des Moines River, for years. She says there has been plenty of talk about paving it, but no action.
The latest review of the county's five-year plan prompted Burke and a dozen of her neighbors to attend the board's most recent meeting to make another request to fix the street they consider dangerous.
"When it is wet and thawing (in the spring)," says Burke, "the ruts in the side of the road deepen and with heavy traffic and semis, they can suck you into the ditch."
People drive in the center of the road, which contains a number of hills, to avoid the ruts.
That is believed to be the cause of a head-on collision in 2011 that killed two local men.
The supervisors drove the road after the accident, but they say the county does not have the millions of dollars needed to pave it.
The supervisors did form a study group to look for ways to improve the road.
Burke says she is encouraged by the step, but the neighbors will keep an eye on how things progress when it comes to 255th Street.
MENTAL HEALTH REORGANIZATION
A plan to regionalize services for those in southeast Iowa with mental health and other developmental disabilities is moving forward.
Lee County is the latest county to sign off on the creation of Southeast Iowa Link, joining Washington and Des Moines Counties, among others.
Lee County CPC Administrator Ryanne Wood says Southeast Iowa Link will oversee services within an eight-county region.
She says each county must sign the 28E agreement to participate as a solid entity as opposed to eight separate counties.
Wood says the state must sign off on the 28E agreement before Southeast Iowa Link can start working on its bylaws and regulations.
She says the organization will focus primarily on individuals without insurance.
