T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Traffic pulls up to the stop sign at the Highway 30 west off ramp at the Highway 330 interchange on Wednesday afternoon. During a special Board of Supervisors meeting held Wednesday morning, County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt discussed the traffic congestion issues that often occur at the interchange during rush hour and potential solutions going forward.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors met in a special session on Wednesday morning with a full slate of agenda items, including a conversation with County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt on traffic flow issues at the highly traveled Highway 30/330 interchange west of Marshalltown and some potential solutions to the problem.

Geilenfeldt told the board that the congestion situation had been getting worse over the last few years at the westbound off-ramp for drivers leaving Highway 30 and turning on to Highway 330 to the point where, during the evening commute rush hour, traffic is often stopped on Highway 30 before the off ramp.

“When you see it, it’s a little bit of a ‘What’s going on here (situation)’ because everybody’s stopped on Highway 30 and we’re not used to seeing that very often,” he said. “It seems like it happens every day. It’s worse on Fridays, I’ve noticed, and what’s going on here a lot of times is (that) traffic will decide they don’t want to be out here on Highway 30 and stopped. So they’ll go around the traffic, go to the next intersection where Knapp Avenue intersects Highway 30 and they will go south on Knapp Avenue and just take a rock road cutoff to Highway 330.”

In addition, he said, some drivers have chosen to make a u-turn at the Knapp intersection and go back to the eastbound off-ramp to get back to 330 that way.

“It’s a serious safety hazard. There’s been no real changes at that intersection. I think it’s just the traffic and the current vehicle miles that are being traveled that are causing it to be an issue,” Geilenfeldt said.

Landowners on Knapp Avenue have reached out to complain about the extra dust created as a result of the congestion, and Geilenfeldt said both cars and semi-trucks have used Knapp. He also expressed concern about traffic on the westbound off-ramp going the wrong way onto 330 despite warning lights and a camera.

Geilenfeldt has asked a representative from the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) if any improvements are being considered for the intersection, and he didn’t feel there was any real fix without adding traffic signals or more stop signs. Because both 30 and 330 are state highways, the DOT would be responsible for any changes, but Supervisor Christian Goodman wondered if the county could at least provide dust control for the nearby affected residents.

“I’ve never run into this. I imagine the DOT has this situation elsewhere in the state, but I don’t know where it is. It’s still our decision if we want to make any dust control measures on the map or if we want to wait and see what the DOT says,” Geilenfeldt said.

He added that the problem wouldn’t go away on its own and that whatever the county decides to do on dust control could set a precedent for the future. A dust control application would cost approximately $500 to $600. Geilenfeldt then warned of a safety hazard on 330 and Knapp on the south end with commercial vehicles entering.

Goodman worried about long-term damage to Knapp Avenue, especially with truck traffic, and compared it to a stretch of road south of Melbourne colloquially known as “The Airport Road,” which was previously embargoed to keep rock trucks from traveling on it. The board did not take any action on the matter, but Chairman Jarret Heil suggested a traffic count to gather further information.

“I can go out there and sit for some rush hour just to see what it looks like,” Geilenfeldt said.

At the end of the regular agenda, the board entered into a closed session.

In other business, the board:

Approved the use of the courthouse grounds during RAGBRAI by the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce with the interior of the building available as a temporary emergency storm shelter. The agreement is contingent on the Chamber securing a certificate of insurance.

Approved the consent agenda as listed.

Approved a State of Iowa alcoholic beverage license for Benson Property DBA Exile Brewing Company LLC in rural State Center during RAGBRAI.

Approved a resolution designating the place at which notice of meetings and job postings of Marshall County and all associated boards and commissions should be posted.

Approved the purchase of a temporary construction easement from Steven B. Weuve in the amount of $1,000.

Approved the purchase of a Diamond C HDT trailer from Thomas Bus Sales of Des Moines in the amount of $20,158.69.

Approved a pair of OPN Architects and Garling Construction change orders for the jail/sheriff’s office project — one an increase of $12,684.92 and the other a decrease of $4,466.98.

Approved a variance request for Joann and Stephen Daters.

Approved the FY2027 Cybersecurity MOU and upcoming ISU services notification and authorized Chief Information Officer James Nehring to sign.

Approved a 28E agreement between Marion County and Marshall County for Healthy Hometowns programming and authorized Public Health Director Sydney Grewell to sign.