The county assistant engineer told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 19 that crews have begun a drainage improvement project on Union Road between Ridgeway and Viking to address recurring frost boils.

“...they are working to improve the drainage out there. So we're drilling vertical holes at a pattern and then back filling those with some clean rock,” Assistant County Engineer Brian Burn said. He told the board the work should help reduce frost boils in that section of roadway.

Why it matters: Local drainage and road maintenance affect travel safety and long-term pavement life; coordinating with neighboring jurisdictions can save costs and reduce repeated repairs.

Burn said the county plans to seal coat the road next summer in coordination with the City of Cedar Falls and that work on Dubuque Road and a Mount Vernon-area project is continuing. He also answered a board question about whether the technique is a repeat of prior recycle/reuse trials, saying the county has used the same method on Leversea Road north of Cedar Falls.

The engineer framed the Union Road work as part of regular summer road maintenance and improvement efforts and did not request additional funding during the meeting. No formal board action beyond receiving the update was recorded in the transcript.

The update was presented as part of the board’s regular project updates from county staff and did not involve a separate vote.