Letter to the editor: County picked wrong road to recycle into gravel

Talk about it

Thirty-four years old, the road surface on Stutsman County Road 40 (Old Highway 10) east of Jamestown through Spiritwood to the Barnes County line was last given a maintenance overlay in 1976. And the Stutsman County Commission wants everyone to believe that in those 34 years, they’ve never had the funding to chip seal or give it another maintenance overlay! As Laurie Mosolf wrote in her letter to the editor, “it’s neglect.”

Now before anyone goes off on the present lack of road funding, remember eight miles of County Road from Ypsilanti west to U.S. Highway 281 (then 18 years old), was reconstructed in 2007-08) the same length of road as Old Highway 10 and other neglected county roads, like County Road 62 south (built in 1981, never maintained, 29 years old). So these roads could have been done, it’s been a commission’s choice.

These roads are impacted by the Spiritwood Industrial Park; one would therefore think it would concern the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., our economic development “experts.” After all, JSDC is boasting to be the best at recognizing infrastructure needed for economic development, so where are they? (Jamestown Sun article on March 9). They do know roads qualify as infrastructure? How can JSDC keep silent on the infrastructure leading to one of the biggest economic development projects in North Dakota?

There are five miles of road west of Medina that would be a good place to begin recycling roads if the commission must. It is a minor roadway, not a major collector road.

Instead, the County Commission chose to recycle Old Highway 10 east of Jamestown, a road that is much more useful.

A paved road is not a luxury; oftentimes it’s the most cost effective and safest roadway, given the circumstances. So before we start turning our county roads back to gravel we better have a concrete plan, something other than: someday, if we have the funding, we’ll repave it.

We need to give the right repair, on the right road, for the right reasons. It’s called, prioritize.

Judy Graves

Ypsilanti, N.D.

Tags: highway 10, opinion, letters, county, road, recycle, 40