Is there too much work done on dirt roads in the county?

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County Engineer Bill Belzer met with the board of supervisors and two concerned farmers on Tuesday morning to discuss the maintenance of the county?s dirt roads.

The meeting was arranged after Supervisor Chairmen Marc Lindeen was contacted by a few farmers with concerns over the roads.

The dirt roads are classified as Class B roads, and the county?s Class B policy states that minimal maintenance is done on these roads. The department?s goal, said Belzer, is to be on the roads one or two times a year.

?A lot of times we?re lucky to do that,? said Belzer, noting that the roads cannot be worked on when they are still wet after rain. He said the department works on the dirt roads when they get a chance.

However, the complaint raised at Tuesday?s meeting was that too much maintenance is being done, and one of the roads has had crews on it at least once a week, it was reported.

Marc Benson commented that he thought the crews should stay off the roads as much as possible, and he asked that crews not work on the roads until after harvest time, as working on them only makes them rougher until the dirt is packed down.

?Once you go over a dirt road and have a lot of sod on it, the farmers go over it and need to pack it down,? summarized Lindeen. Rough roads can cause damage to the farmer?s equipment until it is packed down and smooth.

However, Belzer said he had received a call from a farmer asking that crews do maintenance work on the road Benson was referring to before the harvest.

That?s part of the problem, said Belzer ? each farmer can give him different opinions on how best to proceed with dirt road maintenance.

Lindeen suggested collaboration between the county and the farmers to work together on the roads. When the county has to do maintenance, the farmers could possibly assist in smoothing down the roads.

?If a farmer?s willing to work with us to help us maintain the road, is that something we want to look into?? said Lindeen.

One of the maintenance problems with dirt roads is that as they are driven over, the road is pushed down and out, widening the road. This happens on both dirt and gravel roads, and causes the right of way to shrink so there is not a lot of shoulder room on either side. Ruts can also be a problem and need to be filled in.