County approves five-year transportation plan

The Lake County Highway Department Foreman and Office Manager presented the department’s five-year transportation plan to Lake County Commissioners this week.  A public open house meeting was held on Monday and then Office Manager Debbie Rowley and Foreman Tim Tolley met with the commission during its meeting on Tuesday.  

The Highway Department’s five-year transportation plan and subsequent resolution was approved by commissioners and will be submitted to the state Department of Transportation.

Rowley told commissioners that the county has 200 miles of asphalt or hard surface roads, and more than 70 miles of gravel roads.  She said that the department has plans for the overlay of the particular roads in the five-year plan.

Rowley said the weather put the highway department behind as far as the seal coating plan for county roads.

A major concern for the county’s highway department, Rowley told commissioners, is the county’s bridges.  She said of the county’s 51 total bridges, there are eight currently posted and an engineer has been in the area this week doing inspections.  Rowley said there are currently a couple of bridges that the county is receiving some grant funding from the state to help out with work on them, and another that they hope to apply for grant funding for in January.  

Rowley told commissioners that the state wants to see counties doing more maintenance work before there are bigger problems with culverts and bridges.