Drivers traveling on Jefferson County roads this week may notice thin rubber hoses stretched across the pavement as the Iowa Department of Transportation conducts its routine traffic count program, Jefferson County Engineer DeWayne Heintz told the Board of Supervisors on Monday, August 3rd.
Heintz said the DOT is performing its countywide traffic counts as part of its regular four-year cycle and provided supervisors with maps showing the planned count locations. According to Heintz, the DOT places traffic counters at each location for a single 24-hour period before using statistical formulas to estimate traffic volumes over a longer period. “I believe the way they do it is they do just one 24-hour period at each location,” Heintz said. “So they will have all of this done in one week, and then they use some type of statistical formula to average it out to be over what it would be over the whole week, and then give us an annual average daily traffic count for each of these routes.” He added that the DOT also uses statistical methods to estimate traffic volumes in locations where no live counts are collected.
Heintz emphasized that the rubber hoses should not be mistaken for signs of an upcoming road project. “So when the people see the two pieces of rubber hose stretched across the road, that is the DOT doing their traffic count,” Heintz said. “It is not us planning a road project on that road.” He said his office wanted to make residents aware of the program because people unfamiliar with the equipment are often curious about its purpose, and county road crews have also been notified of the counter locations to help avoid damaging the equipment during routine maintenance.
Supervisor Susie Drish noted that DOT crews appeared to be busy placing the counters throughout the county. “They must have been very busy putting all this down. They were all over today,” Drish said.
Heintz said the DOT uses temporary workers to complete the work efficiently. “They’ve got a full staff of temporary helpers to do that kind of stuff,” he said. “So it’s a nice service that the DOT provides for us, one of the many things they do to help us do what we do.”
