Wednesday, April 11, 2001
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Wednesday, April 11, 2001 |
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Goodbye, country roads? By DAVE HAMRICK
As the local population grows, Fayette County's country roads could become extinct. Many residents want to keep their dirt roads, fearing that paving the roads will invite more traffic and higher density development, but maintaining dirt roads means fighting an ongoing battle with erosion and dust from a constantly increasing number of cars and trucks. Officials are hoping a dust control application being tested on Quarters Road might provide at least a partial solution to the problem, but they're not overly optimistic. County commissioners last week approved a $13,316 expenditure to apply the spray surface on Quarters. The product is touted as an alternative to paving. Its chemicals bond with the dirt on the road, preventing dust and slowing down erosion. But the cost is high, and the long-term results are questionable, said Public Works Department director Lee Hearn. "There are a lot of unknowns," said Hearn in answer to questions from commissioners. Approval of using Quarters Road, where residents have opposed paving, as a test was originally on the commission's consent agenda, which is approved without discussion. But Commissioner A.G. VanLandingham asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda so he could ask questions. "Should we do this? Is the county willing to pay the price to maintain dirt roads in this fashion?" he asked. In answer to VanLandingham's questioning, Hearn pointed out that the initial application is only half of the process. The county will have to apply the chemicals again a few months down the road, at a cost of about $11,000. Even with the dual application, it's unclear whether the hardened surface will last six months or so, or a year or longer, Hearn said. VanLandingham pointed out that Quarters Road is only two miles long, and there are numerous other dirt roads in the county. Such a program might cost several hundred thousand dollars a year, he mused. There might be some savings, Hearn said, since the county would no longer have to scrape the roads and put down gravel. But he is also wondering whether pot holes will develop in the surface, and how they will be repaired. "Patching is an unknown," he said. Commission Chairman Greg Dunn also wondered whether the improvement to the roads' surfaces might attract more traffic and defeat the purpose of the program. "Anything we do to that road to improve it is going to increase the traffic," he said. But in many cases paving the dirt roads is not an attractive alternative either. Commissioners pointed out that 60 feet of right of way are required, and many of the dirt roads are narrow, with houses fairly close to the roads. The right of way will be expensive, and it will bring the roads even closer to many homes. And it will increase traffic and ruin the idyllic country setting for many of the residents, something that will cost commissioners politically. "We're in a catch-22," said VanLandingham. Commissioners unanimously agreed to try the new treatment on Quarters, with no commitment to repeating the process.
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