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County crews battle shrinking roads, budget
Published October 18, 2009
This year’s drought led to the shoulders of county roads shrinking. The economy has the budget to fix the problems shrinking. Both have road crews buckling down to keep cracking roads from growing out of control.
Brazoria County road and bridge crews are responsible for 1,200 miles of road — with 170 of those miles gravel, County Engineer Gerald Roberts said.
While the dirt roads can become “washboard” over time, the drought created a lot more dust but not a lot more work, he said.
“We normally make four or five cycles per year on them with a maintainer,” Roberts said.
“Sometimes we have to put some fresh material on them, but in most cases, the blade makes them smooth again.”
The remaining 1,030 miles of paved roads are a different story, Roberts said.
“When shoulders get dry, they shrink,” he said. “Those shoulders are the external support for the pavement. When they shrink and crack, the pavement cracks. We’ve been doing a lot of crack-sealing. We’re trying to keep the roads smooth and level.”
The return of regular rainfall the last two months ended the drought but brought another problem, Pct. 1 Commissioner Donald “Dude” Payne said. Water swells the shoulders back into place, which is good since it also can push some of the asphalt cracks back together.
“But if the water gets down to the base, it can damage the road,” Payne said. “You start getting potholes. We’ll be busy on this for another year.”
BUDGET POTHOLES
Road bases aren’t the only thing shrinking. The county’s road budget decreased by $3.5 million this year, County Auditor Connie Garner said.
In the 2008-09 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the county earmarked $28.4 million for the overall road and bridge budget. Because of a sluggish economy, that budget was reduced to $24.9 million for the current fiscal year.
In 2008-09, the county’s overall road plan budget, part of the $28.4 million, was $6.8 million. It’s $6.5 million this year, but both years call for reconstruction of 75 miles of the roads in most need of serious repair.
The maintenance budget remains the same at $2 million, Garner said.
Despite the budget, county crews plan to rebuild 75 miles of road this year, which is the same road plan as every year, Roberts said. The decreasing price of asphalt should help stay within their means.
While the number of miles of road to be rebuilt won’t change, the priority list might, Payne said.
“We can only do so much because of the budget,” Payne said. “We’ve had to change our road plan some because of the cracking. We just have to shift around from one we might have been waiting to do this year to one that needs it worse. If you have a possible hazard, you have to work on that.”
QUICKLY AS WE CAN
County crews are working as quickly as possible to repair the damage, said Kevin Doughtery with the Precinct 4 service center.
“We’ve had a big problem throughout the county,” Doughtery said. “We’re trying to fix them the best we can and as cheaply as we can. It’s been a tough year with the budget, and it’s been hard to keep up with. We’ll have to patch some roads and fix them when we get the money to rebuild them.”
Hurricane Ike, which hit in September 2008, didn’t help the problem. For about four months, road and bridge employees helped with county cleanup instead of doing road maintenance and repair, Roberts said. Precinct 1 crews spent about three weeks working on Bluewater Highway in Surfside Beach, then three months cleaning up Ike debris, Payne said.
“That put our road service plan in a bind,” Roberts said.
Regardless of what caused the trouble, the first priority is public safety, Payne said. Crews will continue doing what they can to keep roads smooth, Doughtery said.
“We’ve had this happen all over the county,” he said. “A lot of people are complaining about the condition of the roads. We tell them it’s because of the drought, and we’re trying to make them as safe as possible.”
John Lowman covers Brazoria County for The Facts. Contact him at 979-849-8581.
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MILES TO GO
Road & Bridge budget
2008-09, $28.4 million
2009-10, $24.9 million
Road plan budget
(to replace 75 miles of road)
2008-09, $6.8 million
2009-10, $6.5 million
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