Highway chief warns commission about soft roads and load limits
Spring signs are abundant in Codington County … green and growing grass, leaves popping from tree limbs, planted flowers sprouting up and the ongoing need for load limit signs on county roads.
Highway Superintendent Rick Hartley’s report highlighted a brief 22-minute Tuesday meeting of the Codington County Board of Commissioners. And he brought photos to back up his claims.
“The frost boils are coming out now,” said Hartley, referring to areas under roads where frost melts, contracting the soil and causing soft spots under the surface. “Anywhere where there’s water next to a road, the road is getting clobbered. Right now there’s not a lot I can do.”
Hartley’s photos included one of the deep ruts over a 300-foot stretch of road, obviously a sign when a vehicle of weight sank in but managed to plow through the soft surface, leaving a future repair for highway crews. Another showed a long steel rod Hartley had shoved into the ground.
“Four-and-a-half or 5 feet down it’s still mush,” Hartley said, describing the road’s underpinnings. “If it looks like this under gravel, it will look like that under payment.”
His point was that repairing gravel roads takes less effort and money than rebuilding and recovering a paved surface. And he said he knows there will be individuals trying to press their luck traveling on soft roads with trucks heavier than posted load limits.
Hartley is hopeful upcoming forecasted highs in the upper 70s and low 80s without much rain will help alleviate the soft road problem in the next 2 weeks.
After a brief discussion among the commissioners, it was agreed that the load limits will continue to be enforced and reviewed on a weekly basis.
Hartley also said he’s working with county Emergency Management Director Andrew Delgado on receiving a disaster declaration. He said spring flooding caused little major damage to the county resources, such as roads, but some townships saw road and culvert washouts and will need financial help for repairs.
The commissioners approved malt beverage license renewals for the following county businesses: Rooster Bar, South Fork Lounge, Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Sioux Casino and Joy Ranch. None of the facilities had been cited for selling to underage individuals. The license fee is $300, which is split between the county and state.
The commissioners also approved to advertise and hire one individual in the highway department, due to a retirement, and one correctional officer for the county jail, due to the former worker leaving for a position elsewhere in the state.
During the meeting’s open session, Commissioner Troy VanDusen noted that May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the current week is National Police Week. He brought up the killing this month of Kaitie Leising, 29, a former member of the Pennington County Sheriff staff who had taken a job with St. Croix County in Wisconsin.
During a traffic stop on the night of May 6, a drunk driver pulled a gun and mortally wounded Leising, who managed to fire 3 times at her killer, who ran into nearby woods. The man was not wounded but then took his own life.
Leising’s funeral drew a reported 1,500 officers from as far as Texas and New York. VanDusen’s asked citizens to keep in mind the dangers that officers from sheriff, police and highway patrol departments face every day.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highway chief warns commission about soft roads and load limits
