County engineer says unsigned paved roads will be set to 60 mph under new state law

Ryan Carters, Des Moines County engineer, told the Board of Supervisors on June 16 that a recently passed state law makes unsigned paved roads 60 miles per hour by default and the county will comply.

Carters said the county has ordered stickers that will be applied to existing 55-mph signs where the statute automatically sets the limit at 60. "So we're gonna go ahead and comply with the code," Carters said. "We're gonna just stick 60 mile per hour on top of the 55 on the signs that we do have." He added that the language in the law allowed stickers and that staff expect the stickers to arrive in about July.

The engineer said the county will then evaluate individual locations—curves, superelevation, and no-passing zones—to determine whether additional engineering or signage changes are needed. He described a plan to first extract available design data from plans and only conduct field surveys when necessary, using rented measurement equipment if needed.

Carters also flagged recurring vandalism and some thefts of signage in rural areas as a maintenance and safety concern; he said crews are testing ways to make frequently targeted sign faces harder to deface.

The board did not vote on new speed orders at the meeting; Carters said implementation will be administrative (sign replacement/stickers and targeted engineering reviews) and will proceed as staffing and weather allow.