According to Jenny Hoskins, a resident construction engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation, progress on the repaving of both roads is on schedule.

“They continue to progress well moving north,” said Hoskins. “They’re moving at a rate that they expected, which is about a mile a day. They just had some issues with their paver late last week so that did slow them down.”

According to Hoskins, the shouldering crew arrived on Monday to begin putting the granular shoulders outside of the new paving on Iowa Highway 175.

“We are going to try to reopen that piece by late next week pending weather,” said Hoskins. “I think that will help with some detours, and hopefully be less inconvenient for everyone in Webster County.”

U.S. Highway 169 north of Harcourt is expected to remain closed until Nov. 6, which is when the crew will run out of work days.

“It’s a lot of work to do so I expect that it’s going to take right up until that day,” said Hoskins.

But while the repaving and shouldering work is done on the highways, local law enforcement say some are also using it as their personal racetrack.

According to Webster County Chief Deputy Derek Christie, 39 citations in the construction zone have been issued in the past two weeks by the Sheriff’s Office. Christie said the tickets are currently $205, but if deputies start citing the construction zone enhancement, they would be $340.

“Just a reminder that the road is only open to residents who live or work in those closed off areas,” said Christie.

Construction on the projects began in mid-September.