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Monday, February 11, 2008

Residents ask: “When Will Bay County’s Many Dirt Roads Be Paved?”

There are over 300 miles of unpaved roads in Bay County.  With the county’s continuing growth, that means more people are using those dirt roads and that means...more maintenance.  And, when the rains come...that makes travel worse.

Bay County resident Jennifer Thrasher emails:  “After it rains in Fountain, many of the roads get messed up by people in trucks and vehicles that are big...that mess them up very easily.  It is ruining our vehicles.”

In this Problem Solver report, a closer look at the issue and learn what the future holds for Bay County’s dirt roads.

Pavement still hasn’t found its way to many roads in Bay County.  These sand/dirt roads are constantly changing and some residents are tired of dealing with them.  George Thompson says, “It gets pretty sloppy and muddy...pretty bad.  I think they should be better maintained.” Fountain resident Sarah Hall says, “We pay taxes...what goes with it?  I would to see them paved, the main ones especially the buses and heavy load traffic goes.”

Bay County officials say the maintenance of the county’s dirt roads is an expensive on-going process.  There is a scoring system used to prioritize when certain dirt roads will be paved.  The criteria includes: road maintenance requirements and costs.  Points are added for traffic counts, safety and potential growth also, environmental concerns.

According to Bay County Commission Chairman Jerry Girvin, “we have a ten-year plan, where we have these roads categorized for each year.  As funds become available, we will pave these roads.” With about 350 miles of dirt roads, that is a lot of road maintenance.  Chairman Girvin says, “you are limited to the number of graders and equipment you have to work on it.  We do try to do on a regular scheduled basis.  We try to get out and again the primary roads first, connectors and collectors, then the local roads with heavy traffic...then come out in a week and do that whole series again.

Motorists who drive on Bertha Nelson Road that connects with Highway 231 complain about pure clay that has been used here for road repair...making the surface very slippery.  Chairman Girvin says for some reason it occasionally happens.  He says steps are taken to replace that with a firmer clay/sand mix.

So, why doesn’t the county step up and pave more of these roads in a quicker amount of time?  Chairman Girvin says, “Good point...it is the problem of getting that money up front.  Ten or fifteen years ago, previous a commission opted to take a bond issue for roads...dedicated to three major roads the county owns. We are still paying off that bond issue which minimizes amount of money we have available to go out and work on a road.

Chairman Girvin says if you have a particular complaint about a Bay County dirt road, county leaders want to hear from you.  He also says another option to consider is the participating paving program…where residents who live on a dirt road can share the cost of paving with the county...to get the work done quicker.

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