(Spirit Lake)– Residents along highways 276 and 327 along the west, south and east sides of Big Spirit Lake and old Highway 71 in West Okoboji will be getting new 9-1-1 addresses in the near future.
Jurisdiction and future maintenance of the roads will be turned over to Dickinson county effective July 1st. It’s the result of a bill passed in the last regular session of the Iowa Legislature.
As of right now, county officials and the city of Orleans haven’t decided on how the roads will be re-named. County Engineer Dan Eckert says the state has recommended they be given county road numbers of M-49 for Highway 276 and M-55 for Highway 327. But he says a county ordinance requires the roads be numbered to be consistent with the 9-1-1 grid system. Eckert says he hopes the county and city officials can agree on something soon.
Eckert says he’ll also be working with the cities through which the transferred roads pass on issues such as snow removal and maintenance.
Dickinson county will receive 38-thousand dollars a year over the next 10 years in exchange for taking the roads into its jurisdiction.
