More than 12 miles of county roads are still on the schedule to be paved this year as the Brown County Commissioners prepare to award the contract for the road improvement projects next month.
Highway Superintendent Mike Magner presented updates to the paving plan at the Sept. 1 and 15 commissioners meetings.
Under that plan the following roads are still set to be paved this year: One mile of the Old State Road 46 “business loop” in Gnaw Bone; one mile of Old 46 from Nashville to the Brown County State Park; nearly a mile of Oak Grove Road off of Country Club Road; three miles of Bear Wallow Hill Road; over three miles of Four Mile Ridge Road; over two miles of Three Notch Road; and over one mile of Ford Ridge Road.
These roads will be paved with money from various highway funds, including ones funded by state gas and excise taxes through the state and from the wheel tax residents pay when registering vehicles in Brown County.
The intent is to pave these roads before winter and the approximate cost to pave those roads is between $800,000 and $900,000, Magner told the commissioners.
Once the 12 miles of road are paved it will bring the total miles paved this year to more than 23 miles including roads paved using Community Crossings state grant funding.
According to the plan, local funding will be used next year to pave eight roads, totaling more than 20 miles including Lanam Ridge, Hurdle and Three Story Hill roads.
Magner said the highway department will continue to fill potholes and will replace culverts on Lanam Ridge Road to get the road through winter until it can be paved next year.
Roads in the county are also paved using funding from the state’s Community Crossings grant program.
Last year was the third time the the county had received $1 million from the grant program. Magner applied for another $1 million in July. If awarded, Helmsburg and Clay Lick roads will be paved next year using that money. Awards are expected to be made later this year with the money being deposited next year.
To get Community Crossings grant money, the county has to put up a 25 percent match.
The last round of Community Crossings grant funding was used to pave all of Becks Grove Road from State Road 135 to the county line; Mt. Liberty Road from Bellsville Pike to Rinnie Seitz Road; and the southern end of Lick Creek Road south of Cottonwood Road to State Road 45.
Paving on those roads began later this year due to inclement weather, contractors not having enough employees to work or them being tied up with the I-69 project in Martinsville.
The hope is the I-69 project in Martinsville will be wrapped up by next spring, meaning more contractors will be available to tackle projects in nearby counties, like Brown.
Commissioner President Jerry Pittman said that he understands there are roads out in the county that “are in bad shape” and said the highway department should be out patching those roads to “keep them passable until we can get to them.”
“If your road is one that got paved this year, wonderful, but we still have some roads that are in bad shape,” he said.
“I know you’re spread thin, down employees and never have enough money, but we have to keep every road passable until we can get it paved,” Pittman said to Magner.
Highway department crews were also out working on replacing culverts on Possum Trot Road earlier this month.
Magner said on Sept. 1 that he had a list about a dozen roads that his crews would be out filling potholes this month weather permitting.
He estimated on Sept. 15 that crews had put down 15 tons of patching material in the last week.
At the Sept. 15 commissioners meeting, it was announced that the commissioners had granted Magner approval to use overtime money in his budget to bring his crew in on Fridays to do extra patching and road work.
Currently the highway department staff work four days a week at 10 hours a day. The overtime would be on a volunteer basis, Biddle said.
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Brown County Highway Superintendent Mike Magner presented updates to the paving plan for this year, 2022 and 2023 at the Brown County Commissioners meetings this month.
The plan outlines which roads will be paved using local funding, like money from motor vehicle highway fund, and the state Community Crossings grant program. This plan is also subject to change as road conditions change throughout the next two and a half years.
Here are the paving plans as of Sept. 15.
2020 Community Crossings projects (completed in 2021)
Becks Grove Road – 4.85 miles
Lick Creek Road – 2.4 miles
Mt. Liberty Road – 3.85 miles
TOTAL: 11.1 miles
2021 local funded projects
Old State Road 46 “business loop” in Gnaw Bone – 1.07 miles
Old 46 from town of Nashville to the Brown County State Park – 0.9 miles
Oak Grove Road off of Country Club Road – 0.65 miles
Four Mile Ridge Road – 3.15 miles
Three Notch Road – 2.3 miles
Ford Ridge Road – 1.25 miles
Bear Wallow Hill Road – 3 miles
TOTAL: 12.32 miles
Proposed 2022 local funded projects
Parkview Road – 1 mile
Hornettown Road – 3.5 miles
Lanam Ridge Road – 4.15 miles
Woodland Lake Road – 2 miles
Hurdle Road – 2 miles
Spearsville Road – 2 miles
Three Story Hill Road – 3.4 miles
Owl Creek Road – 2.5 miles
TOTAL: 20.55 miles
Proposed 2021 Community Crossings projects (to be completed in 2022 if grant is awarded)
Helmsburg Road – 5.75 miles
Clay Lick Road – 4.8 miles
TOTAL: 10.55 miles
Proposed 2023 local funded projects
Grandma Barnes Road – 2 miles
North Covered Bridge Road – 0.8 miles
Harrison Ridge Road – 1.75 miles
Poplar Ridge Road – 3.1 miles
Kent Road – 1.4 miles
Stevens Road – 0.6 miles
Hamilton Creek Road – 4 miles
TOTAL: 13.65 miles
Proposed 2022 Community Crossings projects (to be completed in 2023 if grant is awarded)
North Shore Drive – 2.4 miles
South Shore Drive – 2 miles
Beech Tree Road – 1.75 miles
Bean Blossom Road – 4.5 miles
TOTAL: 10.65 miles
Proposed 2023 Community Crossings projects (to be completed in 2024 if grant is awarded)
Gatesville Road – 6.25 miles
Bear Creek Road – 3.15 miles
Yellowwood Lake Road – 1.5 miles
TOTAL: 10.9 miles
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