This year, cities and counties are willing to talk. The change of heart isn't due to a newfound sympathy with DOT's argument that state funds should target upkeep on heavily traveled highways. Rather, it's the dose of reality that came with the introduction of state legislation to turn over the roads to localities and a desire to make a deal with DOT before officials in Des Moines mandated how much money each locality would get to assume the new responsibilities.
So far, Iowa local governments have agreed to take over 152 miles of roadway in exchange for $35 million. Some of the payout, which will come from state funds intended for repairing highway pavement, will be given to local governments up front in a lump sum; the rest will be spread out over two or three years. Kevin Mahoney, director of DOT's Highway Division, says the sum should be enough to cover the costs of fixing up the roads, many of which were once major highways but have fallen into disuse.
In the eyes of the state, the roads should be in the hands of local governments regardless of whether they need to be fixed. "Repair really has nothing to do with it except that every road has its own story and its own condition," Mahoney says.
