Secondary Roads

The Secondary Roads Department is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the local road system in unincorporated areas of Appanoose County. This includes all roads, bridges, and associated Rights-of-Way located outside City Limits, plus Farm-to-Market Road extensions in towns less than 500 population. Excluded are primary highways maintained by the Iowa Department of Transportation which are IA 2, IA 5, and IA 202 in Appanoose County. The County road system has more than 765 total miles, including approximately 115 miles of paved highways, 615 miles of aggregate roads and 25 miles of Level B Roads that are generally considered “dirt roads”. There are also roughly ten (10) miles of roads classified as “Level C”, which are limited-access public roads maintained by the adjacent property owners.

There are over 200 bridges on the Appanoose County Secondary Roads System. Those include seven (7) railroad bridges that are the railroads’ responsibility but may impact the road system because of clearances or other restrictions, more than twenty (20) structures that are less than twenty (20) feet long (the Federal definition of a bridge), and approximately fifty (50) bridges that are load posted (not open to legal maximum-weight vehicles). All bridges on the County system are inspected per the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS), typically on a two year cycle, and those with developing concerns are formally inspected on an annual basis.

The Department operates on approximately a $4.5 million base local budget, which is more than 80% funded by fuel tax and vehicle registration. The remainder of the local budget is funded by local Property Taxes and Local-Option Sales Tax. Major construction and maintenance projects are funded through the Farm-to-Market fund and other sources managed by the State of Iowa, averaging approximately $1.5 million additional annually, and are ultimately the responsibility of the Secondary Roads Department.

The Secondary Roads Department is managed by the County Engineer, who is appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Each County is required by the Code of Iowa to have a County Engineer who is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Iowa. The Department is comprised of Engineering & Administration (manages the construction and overall department administration) and Maintenance (which provides daily road maintenance and annually undertakes several local construction projects such as small bridge or culvert replacements).

County Engineer: Bradley J Skinner, PE & PLS
Assistant Engineer: Mackenzie McCoy, PE
Assistant to the Engineer: Nate Shilling
Office Manager: Rhea Wilson
Road Superintendent: Roger Dyke
Shop Foreman: Dylan Van Donselaar

• 511 IA
• ISAC
• Iowa Department of Transportation
• Iowa Department of Transportation – Local Systems
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources
• Iowa County Engineers Association Service Bureau