Letter to the Editor: Concerns with gravel road detour

Editor’s Note: The following was a letter also emailed by the author to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors and the Allamakee County Engineer’s Office. The original letter contained photos of the condition of areas of the gravel road detour around the Irish Hollow Bridge replacement project on County Road A26 (Iowa River Drive) following the recent snow/rain storms that swept through the area Wednesday, April 10.

To the Editor:

I am writing to you with great disappointment, frustration and safety concerns. This is due to the poor road conditions on the A26 detour. It is an impassable detour, to say the least. I am not certain how one expects to continue to re-route traffic on this impassable road.

I am disappointed and angered about the decision made to even consider this road as a detour for all traffic. I am even more disturbed that a “bypass” road was completed, with our tax money, for one individual resident. Not only do the residents need this access but our kids ride the bus every day on these unsafe conditions. I would also like to mention that an emergency vehicle would not be able to use this as an access to nearby homes.

This is a safety risk. Are you willing to take responsibility for this? I ask you a few questions to consider: 1) Where and how is our tax money allocated for this project? 2) How are the community members supposed to continue to drive this and get to our jobs and careers? 3) Was it a consideration to make this detour for residents only and have others use hard surface roads for a detour? 4) What is the future plan for maintenance on this road? 5) When will our leaders and engineers take responsibility and accountability for our poor road systems and decisions made?

I am sure we are not the only concerned, outraged citizens. Please feel free to contact us at any time to further discuss our concerns. I am sure others in our community would also love to have their concerns validated.

Best regards,

Jason and Stacie Strong
New Albin