Lack of funding stalls road maintenance plan

November 02, 2009 09:14 pm

— Cass County Highway Department officials say a lack of funding is forcing them to rework their current five-year plan for road maintenance projects.
Highway superintendent Steve Easley told county commissioners Monday the department was in the process of restating the five-year plan it put together in 2007.
“We are asking, ‘What can we do thinking outside the box to use what funds we have?’” Easley said. “The reality of life is that the revenue stream is not there.”
The superintendent said the highway department’s revenues in 2007 were almost twice as much as the $870,000 the department received from the state in 2009 for road maintenance work.
Easley said he does not predict the availability of funds to change in the near future, thus the decision to table the 2007 plan and create a new one.
“Rather than a five-year plan, it is now more like a 10-year plan,” Easley said. “What we recognized is where we started in 2007 and where we are today based on available funds, we can’t complete the 5-year plan. So, we decided to sit down and take another look at what we can do. ...”
Easley could not identify any specific project or road that will suffer from the reduced funding.
The superintendent explained the highway department hopes to optimize repair efforts by focusing on fixing roads in an incremental manner.
Project coordinator Jeff Smith said current projects include the completion of resurfacing work on Logansport Road, 700 East and a small part of 400 South. Smith predicts traffic control signs will be installed in the next few weeks.
Work also began on a bridge west of Royal Center last week. Smith said the old structure has been removed and pile driving for the new bridge was expected to begin Friday.
The highway department has been measuring traffic in and out of The Andersons, ADM and ESSROC through traffic counts in the Clymers area, and the department is also pursuing efforts to have active warning devices installed at the two Norfolk-Southern railroad crossings near Clymers.
As for the on-going 300 South project, Smith said right-of-way acquisition is under way and offers to affected property owners will be made soon. The project is scheduled for bid letting in March 2010.
• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.