Increased traffic, spring breakup poses challenges

Hello Bonner County residents,

I thought I would give you folks an update from the Road and Bridge Department.

Bonner County Road and Bridge crews were very busy this winter trying their best to keep 678-plus miles of roads clear and safe. Road and Bridge crews struggled to keep up as the traffic has increased dramatically on our roads. Some of our gravel roads have seen an increase in traffic from a few years ago of 300 cars a day to now close to 800 cars a day and some of our asphalt roads reaching close to 2,800 cars a day. We have had some interesting weather patterns from several hard freeze events then to rain creating some very slick roads. In our higher elevations, some roads are still covered in ice. Just to give you an idea for what it cost to perform this maintenance, Road and Bridge winter maintenance cost for this winter was a little over $2.3 million. This is only the fuel, equipment cost, labor and sand.

Weight restrictions have been posted on all county roads at this time. The spring rains, snow melt along with the increase in traffic have created quite a mess with our gravel roads. Road and Bridge maintains around 380 miles of gravel roads throughout the county. Our equipment operators are doing what they can to address the potholes that have plagued our gravel roads. This takes time, I know everyone would like their county road graded and we will get to them.

This time of year, as everything is starting to thaw out, the roads will become saturated with water. This makes it very difficult to grade as it just turns to a soupy mess and will just blow right back out as it is too wet to compact with the mud covering your vehicle as well. As we cut the potholes, we expose the frozen layer directly under the surface and this starts a chain event for more mud and water. This usually lasts a good month or so until things start to dry out.

When we prep our roads for the winter, we put around a 3% to 4% crown in our gravel roads to help the public stay on the roads better when snow or ice covered. If the crown is too steep cars will slide off the road or tend to drive in the middle of the road to straddle the crown in fear that they will go in the ditch. This is a double-edged sword as when spring comes around, we do not have enough crown for the water to drain properly therefore saturating the soils which causes the slew of potholes that plague our roads. As we start to dry out, we will reshape the roads with a steeper crown of 5% to 6% so the roads stay relatively smooth for the summer and fall months.

This just happens to be the cycle of life here in Bonner County. Hard surface roads are a bit easier to maintain since water just sheets off into the ditch. I have been out driving some of these roads and, for the most part, the roads are starting to dry out and starting to take shape. Operators have begun to put a higher percentage of a crown on these roads for the summer months. We have now entered the flooding months as well. Streams are very high, and water is flowing at a high rate of speed causing more issues such as overloading culverts, creating washouts and land or rockslides. Crews are addressing these areas.

There are more miles of non-maintained public roads in Bonner County than county-maintained roads. These non-maintained roads are and have always been problematic for the residents who live along them during this time of year. These roads are not maintained by the Road Department but are left to the individuals who live along them to maintain. There has been some confusion by residents that because it is a public road, they think the county should maintain it. These roads were created by developers or private landowners and then dedicated to the public so people would not have to buy an easement for each property and allow access. These roads were never built to a standard in which the county would consider for maintenance nor were they intended to become a county-maintained road. Be sure of what you are purchasing as some of these areas may be flooded and impassable during certain times of the year and the Road Department is not funded to help with these roads.

Crews are out in full force sweeping the sand-covered asphalt roads to prepare them for the summer. Be sure to keep a safe distance to avoid any accidents as dust will most definitely be a concern for visibility. Crews will have water trucks to try to help with this. As many of you have noticed, the inflation of fuel, oil, parts, equipment and pretty much anything that can be purchased has gone up in price here in recent months. Asphalt prices have increased 20% and continue to rise. Culverts prices went up by 63%, and liquid asphalt is expected to be around 33% higher. This could put a strain on our budget and make short work of our planned asphalt and construction projects. Maybe even reduce our chip seal projects that we do to preserve our asphalt roads.

Road and Bridge is always trying to find better ways to best serve the public's needs and expectations within our budget and will continue to do so. I have worked for the Road and Bridge Department for almost 27 years, and I am very proud of what our crews have accomplished during this time. We have improved roads from no access in the springtime to year around access and some of these roads are now hard surfaced. We will continue to keep improving the roads and bridges of Bonner County. Road and Bridge has many road projects moving forward for this year. We will be applying 2.6 miles of asphalt on Clagstone Road as well as a realignment of a very dangerous corner within this section of the road. We will be applying asphalt to 2.2 miles of Camp Bay Road as well. We have around 67 miles of chip seal slatted for the preservation of our asphalt roads. We will be applying Magnesium Chloride to over 270 miles of gravel roads this year to preserve the surface life of our gravel roads system.

With the new roll out of surplus funds from the state, $200 million was allocated to bridges. This money is to be used on bridges based on the ITD inspection report data which are only done on bridges greater than 20 feet in length. Bridges with weight restrictions are the main focus of this money throughout the state. These funds are to be applied for including a written letter showing the impacts and benefit to the public in the area for the reconstruction of or replacement of the bridge. These funds have no match from the County for any of the work to be done. Bonner County has several bridges that fall into this category with at least three that should rank in the top 100 to be considered. Bonner County Road and Bridge will be applying for these funds. There are also surplus funds that will be coming to the Road and Bridge Department sometime after July that is intended for road maintenance. The amount and date are still unknown; however, these funds will be put to good use while also helping with the budget constraints in fiscal year 2022 if received before October. I hope this update finds you all well. We here at Road and Bridge are looking forward to the warmer days ahead.

Jason Topp is director of Bonner County Road and Bridge.