County road condition woes traced to budget shortfall

A worker at the Greene County Highway Garage, near Switz City, moves some road stone from a large pile in preparation to be loaded onto a truck. Highway superintendent Mike Hennette said about 8,000 tons of stone has been applied to county gravel roads in the last couple of weeks. However, he admits that amount is woefully short of the amount that is actually needed. (Greene County Daily World/Nick Schneider) [Order this photo]

There is no denying that this has been a tough year on unpaved county roads. They've lost their base and many have been transformed into dirt roads that are impassible or difficult to drive on at best.

"The freeze and thaw just killed us and that is what happened," Hennette said matter-of-factly.

Hennette said his office has fielded a lot of calls from upset residents in the last three weeks, who were complaining about the condition of their roads -- both paved and gravel.

But the rate of calls has slowed and Hennette said he understands the frustration.

He also shares the frustration, but says he is facing a budget shortfall and there are not many options left other than patience.

Repair of roads utilized by school buses is a priority for Hennette's 32-member road crew.

"We try to cater to school bus routes first. We really try to do that. With five school districts, a lot them (the roads) get used and that is where we try to concentrate our efforts. During this last spell that is where we did try to concentrate. So, maybe we didn't get them all, but I feel like we got quite a bit of them," the road superintendent commented on Friday morning.

Hennette explained that he has $250,000 appropriated for the purchase of rock -- much less than last year.

His budget took a big hit when the state took $532,000 out of the county's Motor Vehicle Highway Fund last summer.

"Not all of that obviously was rock, but a portion of it was," he added.

The road superintendent said about 8,000 tons of rock has been spread over county roads in the past three weeks in an effort to help the situation.

He knows that this rock just doesn't go far enough to bring the county's approximate 500 miles of gravel roads up to standard.

This photo was provided by Sherry Ervin, rural Linton, who lives on County Road 1100W, about 2 1/2 miles north of Humphreys Park in Linton. It's typical of the condition of some of the county's gravel roads.

Hennette says if you have a 13-ton truck load of stone and you spread it two inches thick and nine feet wide it will cover about 120 feet of road.

"You figure it up ... we are giving roughly $11.60 a ton for stone. So you can figure up how many tons were are going to get to spread on 500 miles of gravel roads. That don't take a mathematician long to figure it up. You are not going to get much."

Using that formula, it takes roughly 572 tons of rock to do one mile of roadway at a cost of about $6,635.

Hennette said it will be several more weeks until paved road patching of potholes can be done.

"The ground is still too wet," he noted. "If you'd do it now, you'd just be wasting your money. Once we get a little dry weather, that's when we'll get our pothole patcher out and we'll start on them."

Hennette explained there are two ways to patch pavement -- cold mix and hot mix.

The county did purchase one truck load of cold patch mix -- which sells for about $97 a ton. That compares with hot asphalt mix which is about $43 a ton.

The cold mix can be applied at any time of the year, but the cost is prohibitive.

The availability of hot mix is dependent on when the asphalt plants start to make it in the spring. Hennette estimated that date would be near April 1.

"One we can get hot mix then we are going to be doing some patching," he promised.

Sherry Ervin, rural Linton, lives on County Road 1100W, about 2 1/2 miles north of Humphreys Park in Linton.

She's one of those residents who is not happy with the condition of her county road, which she called a dirt road rather than a gravel road -- a problem that dates back at least eight years.

"We have lived out here for 21 years and have had it with the way the county takes care of this road. There is a lot of traffic on this road since it also runs along side Lone Tree Road (County Road 1000W) from Linton to State Road 48. There has been no gravel put on this road in years. When they do come around and grade it all they do is pull the garbage along the side of the road into it. Every time this road is graded we have flat tires and we are not the only ones," she commented in an e-mail to the Greene County Daily World.

Ervin explained that her house is located across from the state wildlife area and "H Lake" -- areas that draw some outdoorsmen and fishermen.

The road condition is hurting tourism she contends.

"They make one trip down this road with their vehicle, boat, and trailer and decide they do not want to ruin what they have. I have stopped and let several people use my cell phone because their boat has bounced off of their trailer or they have a flat tire," Ervin commented.

In her frustration, she erected a sign along her road which reads "Wheel Tax at Work."

Hennette explained Wheel Tax money can only be used for repair or construction of roads and streets, and not for gravel roads, like the one Ervin lives on.

Wheel Tax also can not be used for the purchase of equipment and or to pay for manpower.

The purchase of stone comes from the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund.

"If they see us out patching (paved roads), it's Wheel Tax money," he added.

Becky Herndon of Becky's Beauty Salon in Lyons, who lives near Beehunter, says her road was in terrible shape before a couple loads of rock were spread and grader work was done in the last week.

"We finally got some rock put on, so they (the county) have done some improvements," Herndon told the Greene County Daily World. "It's so much better now. It was bad, but it is better now ... I was very pleased," she said.

She explained that prior to the upgrade the road was nearly impassible in both directions.

"I got stuck in it. It was deep. The ruts were deeper than a one-litre pop bottle. My husband's car got stuck."