Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. County maps were updated in July of 2003 and are available at the Rock Island County Highway Department at no charge.

The County has a five, ten, and twenty-year plan which is updated each year. Each County Highway is given a rating based on the condition of the road and the County Highways with the worst rating are given top priority.

If you don't know exactly where the right-of-way line is, contact the appropriate highway authority. The right-of-way on state and county roads are usually well documented, but township roads often times are not. However, the individual Township Road Commissioner's can usually tell you where it is.

Before doing anything within the right-of-way, please contact the appropriate highway authority!

When a property owner wants to construct an entrance from their property to the County Highway the first step is to contact the Highway Department requesting an entrance permit. You will be required to identify the location with stakes and/or marking paint. A representative from the Highway Department will inspect the site to determine if the necessary sight distance exists on the County Highway and will determine what size of culvert, if any, is needed under the entrance. If the location is acceptable a permit will be mailed along with a typical drawing on how to construct the entrance to the Highway Department specifications. Once the entrance is constructed the permit shall be signed, dated and returned to the Highway Department. A representative will inspect the new entrance to determine if it was built according to the Department specifications, failure to do so will result in the Highway Department rebuilding the driveway, to the specifications, and the cost of doing so will be charged to the owner. There is no fee associated with the driveway access permit.

We recommend a metal box on a 4 by 4 inch wood post. The post must be made of breakaway material (Permanent fixtures are prohibited). From past experience the designer plastic mailboxes do not hold up well when hit with snow thrown from a plow.

You can contact the Rock Island County Highway Department at 309-787-4668. If it is determined that a County snowplow did indeed knock down your mailbox the Highway Department will replace the mailbox with a U.S. Postal Department regulation metal box on a 4 by 4 inch wood post.

Dead animals on the roadway can often times be a hazard to the traveling public. If a large dead animal (a large dog, deer, etc.) is lying on the roadway and is creating a hazardous situation to drivers, you should call 911. If the animal is lying off to the side of the road and is not creating a hazardous situation, please contact the appropriate highway authority that has jurisdiction of that road. The highway departments should all have answering machines so that you can leave a message describing the location of the animal if it is after hours.

Often times hazardous conditions develop on public roads such as trees or limbs falling on the roadway, debris falling off of trucks, roads are washed out during heavy rainfall, water on the road, etc. If a potentially hazardous condition exists on a road you should contact the Sheriff's Department at 309-794-9111 who will then notify the appropriate highway authority.

There are basically four different highway authorities that have maintenance responsibilities within Rock Island County. Listed are the highway authorities along with the general jurisdictional responsibility:

• City of Village: Is responsible for all public streets within the corporate limits except any State or county roads within the corporate limits.
• County: Is responsible for all county roads which, in general, consist of main collector routes. County roads can also exist within the corporate limits of a city of village.
• State: Is responsible for all marked and unmarked state routes and interstates. State roads can exist within the corporate limits of a city or village.
• Township (Road District): Is responsible for all township roads within a given township. Roads on township lines may be the responsibility of either of the adjacent townships and it may change from one section to another. Township roads cannot exist within the corporate limits of a city or village. Therefore, if the corporate limits of a road is adjacent to or included within any part of the right-of-way that road is the maintenance responsibility of the city or village.