A long‑awaited rebuild on two of Buena Vista County’s busiest roads is about to hit the calendar — and the first crews could roll out in just a few weeks.
The county board of supervisors got its clearest picture yet Tuesday of how the Iowa Highway 71 and County Road N14 reconstruction will unfold, after county engineer Bret Wilkinson shared new details from last week’s pre‑construction meeting and a follow‑up call with the contractor. Wilkinson says crews weren’t ready to commit to a timeline at first — but that changed this week.
He told supervisors the prime contractor, Croell, and its main subcontractor, PCI, have now aligned their plans. The first major work will happen on N14, with crews aiming to start in early September and finish the two‑mile stretch — including paving — before winter.
PCI also wants to take advantage of dry fall conditions to replace the box culvert on Business 71. The precast culvert is expected to be ready in October, and Wilkinson says the contractor hopes to install it yet this fall to avoid spring flooding challenges.
Aside from that culvert, Wilkinson says Highway 71 won’t see major work this season. Full reconstruction there is expected to begin around April 1, the typical start date for spring road work in Iowa.
The county has already provided contractors with a full list of landowners along both corridors. Wilkinson says crews will send letters and try to gather email contacts so they can push updates directly to property owners. A landowner meeting is still planned — with N14 residents getting priority since they’ll see the earliest impacts.
The N14 project also includes a key drainage fix at the C29 intersection, where the county will install a 24‑inch culvert to match new tile installed by a local landowner. Wilkinson says the goal is to ensure the road isn’t the bottleneck if the drainage district ever upsizes its system.
Wilkinson warned that the intersection will need to close during that work, and fall traffic — especially grain hauling — will feel the disruption. But he said PCI is known for working well with farmers and will try to maintain access where possible.
Once crews begin, the dirt work will take the most time. Both roads will be fully torn up — asphalt milled off, concrete removed and crushed, geogrid installed and a new base built before paving. Wilkinson says that approach will finally give the roads the solid foundation they’ve lacked for decades.
Mainline paving on N14 will take roughly five days, followed by several days of handwork at intersections and driveways.
Wilkinson says the fall work will be inconvenient — but worth it.
He expects more detailed scheduling information from the contractor soon and will share updates with both supervisors and landowners as they come in.
