Highway Department Struggling To Keep County Roads Plowed
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A trip from Indianapolis to Miami, Fla., is approximately 1,200 miles.
There are 1,200 miles of road in Kosciusko County the county highway department has to maintain, Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Rob Ladson said today. "Every time you plow, you double that because there are two lanes. It's like a trip from Indianapolis to Miami and back."
So when it comes to snowplowing and salting/sanding of the roads, the county has more to maintain than towns or the state, he said, with fewer funds.
"There's only so much you can do," he said.
In Kosciusko County, the highway department does not receive any property taxes to maintain the roads. Their only funds come from the gas tax. And while Kosciusko County ranks third in the number of road miles of the 92 counties in the state, it doesn't receive a proportionate amount of funds from the tax.
Indiana road crews use pure salt on state roads, as do most towns. But with the amount of roads compared to the funds the county has, Ladson said, his department cannot use pure salt and they can't get the roads "bare."
Salt costs $34 per ton. The county highway department mixes salt with sand and tries to have a sand-salt mix at every intersection, but they won't ever get the roads down to bare pavement, he said.
As for 24-hour snowplowing, he said, "I would love to offer 24-hour, but that decision has to be made above me and that's a funding decision." That funding would have to be derived from taxes, which would have to be approved by the Kosciusko County council, and the decision to work 24 hours would have to be approved by the county commissioners.
The snowplowing crews begin their duties at 4 a.m. and plow until 4 or 6 p.m., Ladson said. After two or three weeks of that, he said, they needed a break and the county commissioners allowed the highway crews to take Christmas off.
Ladson said he knows the roads may be slick, but that's not limited to county roads. "The roads are going to be ice and slick because the temperature is so cold, the salt and sand won't work." When temperatures are below the freezing point of water, he said, the salt and sand will have no effect.
Snow is predicted for this weekend. As for whether or not the plows will be out this weekend, Ladson said, "It'll be on a case-by-case basis. We'll have to see what the weather is like." [[In-content Ad]]
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A trip from Indianapolis to Miami, Fla., is approximately 1,200 miles.
There are 1,200 miles of road in Kosciusko County the county highway department has to maintain, Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Rob Ladson said today. "Every time you plow, you double that because there are two lanes. It's like a trip from Indianapolis to Miami and back."
So when it comes to snowplowing and salting/sanding of the roads, the county has more to maintain than towns or the state, he said, with fewer funds.
"There's only so much you can do," he said.
In Kosciusko County, the highway department does not receive any property taxes to maintain the roads. Their only funds come from the gas tax. And while Kosciusko County ranks third in the number of road miles of the 92 counties in the state, it doesn't receive a proportionate amount of funds from the tax.
Indiana road crews use pure salt on state roads, as do most towns. But with the amount of roads compared to the funds the county has, Ladson said, his department cannot use pure salt and they can't get the roads "bare."
Salt costs $34 per ton. The county highway department mixes salt with sand and tries to have a sand-salt mix at every intersection, but they won't ever get the roads down to bare pavement, he said.
As for 24-hour snowplowing, he said, "I would love to offer 24-hour, but that decision has to be made above me and that's a funding decision." That funding would have to be derived from taxes, which would have to be approved by the Kosciusko County council, and the decision to work 24 hours would have to be approved by the county commissioners.
The snowplowing crews begin their duties at 4 a.m. and plow until 4 or 6 p.m., Ladson said. After two or three weeks of that, he said, they needed a break and the county commissioners allowed the highway crews to take Christmas off.
Ladson said he knows the roads may be slick, but that's not limited to county roads. "The roads are going to be ice and slick because the temperature is so cold, the salt and sand won't work." When temperatures are below the freezing point of water, he said, the salt and sand will have no effect.
Snow is predicted for this weekend. As for whether or not the plows will be out this weekend, Ladson said, "It'll be on a case-by-case basis. We'll have to see what the weather is like." [[In-content Ad]]