TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Board of Commissioners and Road and Bridge Department are considering tapping into the County Road Fund to pay for a proposed project that would reconstruct and repair troublesome areas on seven county roads.
County engineer Bob Taylor told the GCC on Tuesday that his department is already doing the legwork to make the project happen. The project has not been finalized, put out for bid or voted on at this stage.
“We are in the process of looking at several areas, about half a dozen, that need a fairly major reconstruction,” he said. “For the most part, they are smaller areas, about a half-a-mile pieces of road. They’re very complicated and labor intensive. They could require special equipment, and we’re looking at putting together a project to bid those out to a private contractor.”
The CRF monies are earmarked for road improvement projects only, and have strict guidelines as to what they can be used for. Taylor said this project would fit within those guidelines.
Radio Road, Prairie Drive near Dillman Estates, County Road 53, Road 74D, Lay Road, County Road 61, and County Road 64 would be subject to improvements.
A portion of Radio Road would be repaved and rebuilt, Taylor said.
“The paving is going out fast in that road,” he said. “The old paving was put in on a poor base, and it’s gone. A few years ago we replaced some of that, and it’s all good.”
The work on Prairie Drive and CR 53 would address the drainage situations on each road, and address the reasons why the road hasn’t been stable.
“There is a problem there we’ve been faced with for some time,” Taylor said of Prairie Drive. “We grade it, and it’s only good for a few days.
“We want to fix them to not be so maintenance intensive. They’re still gravel roads, but both are heavily trafficked roads.”
Taylor said the project would address some long-term issues on CR 74D and Lay Road, as well.
“There are some areas that we need to do some rebuilding,” Taylor said. “We promised we would do that some time ago, but there’s not enough time, hours, people and money.”
Interim Road and Bridge Superintendent Val Hankins said CR 61, which is in the Table Mountain area, has been closed as a pond is seeping into the road’s foundation.
“There’s a huge pond on the side of it that is pretty much encroaching on the road,” she said. “It’s leaking under the road. We’ve closed it off, and residents can get around it another way without having to take too much time, but I think hay trucks have gone down there in the past and gotten swallowed up. It’s something we’re going to need to look at.”
CR 64, near Veteran, would see new drainage, new culverts and reshaping, as well.
Taylor said he believes there are several local contractors who could handle the job.
“We have several local contractors that can handle this,” Taylor said. “We have to go through the legal requirements, we have to go through the process, but these projects are small enough those guys can do them. It will help the local economy and get the work done.”
