To the editor:
And to the Brown County Commissioners:
As a longtime resident of Brown County (nearly 20 years), I am concerned about our infrastructure deterioration, especially regarding our county roads.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]I live on a gravel road and, of course, do not expect the maintenance to be as punctual as for the blacktop roads. (That is a letter for another time.) When we moved here, we did, however, expect the gravel roads to be maintained for safety and minimal wear and tear on vehicles. Currently we have 10 families that live on our gravel road (Pine Ridge Road).
However, this road has only been graded one time this year (after much begging!) and has not been ditched for drainage or weeds trimmed for line of sight safety at all. Despite asking the highway department numerous times to grade our road and trim the shrubs, we are told, “Either the end of this week or next week sometime.” But they never come, nor do they call and give another possible date. When I call asking if they are still coming out, I receive various reasons for the delay including, “We have a drainage pipe on another road that just collapsed and we need to take of it first,” or “Just as our grader was completing a road near yours, it broke,” or “We have lots of employees out on vacation and are short staffed,” or I get a voicemail with the message to “Leave your number and the road you are asking about and we will return your call” — no return call.
To date, our road is just plain dangerous. It is down to one lane (originally two lanes), shrubs and sycamore trees reduce the line of sight on curves, and the ruts on each side are over 2 feet deep, some crossing the road nearly as deep. To add to the problem, I recently had surgery and cannot drive up or down our hill without gasping in pain as the ruts irritate my incisions (at 5-10 MPH).
In the past, most of the gravel roads in the county have been graded on a regular basis (two to three times each year, in addition to snow removal) and the weeds were trimmed twice yearly for safety. I realize gasoline taxes support the road maintenance, but as I drive around the county, very few of the roads are as well maintained now as in the past.
Attached are some photos of 10-foot weeds next to the Green Valley Road bridge over Salt Creek and ruts on an “S” curve going up Pine Ridge Road.
Please, Commissioners, can you help us with this safety and possible property damage issue — before a school bus attempts to cross the Salt Creek bridge and runs into another vehicle unable to see because of brush and weeds, before the latest wrecker call as someone slides into a ditch because they can’t see another car coming around the corner, snow hides the deep ruts in the road causing serious property damage, or before someone really gets hurt?
Thank you.
Marylin Day, Pine Ridge Road
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