AMES, Iowa - May 19, 2025 - The Iowa Department of Transportation is working across the state this spring and summer to determine how many cars, trucks, and other vehicles are using the state, county, and city roadways. The information gathered allows transportation officials to better predict traffic volume and weight trends, allowing them to plan improvements that will give Iowans the most benefit for each dollar spent.
This year’s efforts will be concentrated in northeast Iowa. Some employees will be setting portable traffic video recorders at defined locations. The videos will be used to count and classify vehicles, record vehicle turning movements, and gather other necessary data to assist in planning the future of Iowa’s roadway system.
Other employees will be placing and monitoring portable traffic recorders using pneumatic tubes stretched across the roadway. When the recorders are set, they typically record data for one or two days and are checked periodically. Employees responsible for the recorders work various shifts, including hours outside of a traditional business day.
Additional statewide work scheduled for this summer includes the installation, upgrading, and maintenance of permanent traffic recorders and weigh-in-motion equipment at continuous count stations. Other data collection activities include taking inventory on railroad crossing characteristics, such as number of tracks, types of warning devices, and control gates present at crossing locations. This information is then used for rail crossing planning, engineering, and safety improvements.
Please be vigilant, as people in northeast Iowa can expect to see Iowa DOT employees and vehicles all hours of the day. All of this work is critical to the future of the state’s transportation system.
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For general information about this project contact Jorge Zamora, Iowa DOT Systems Planning Bureau, at 515-239-1323 or jorge.zamora@iowadot.us.