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Letter: Problems on county roads

By Staff | Apr 23, 2003

Problems on county roads

To the editor:

It may be time many of us start questioning our Leavenworth County road procedures and practices. I am a lifelong resident of this county and have seen various changes over the last 15 years. Over the past 10 years the county of Leavenworth has allowed house after house to be built and has done little to resolve the dust, or the deteriorating roads situation. On our road there are potholes and “ripples” that have developed, yet are never removed. This may be caused by a lack of rock applied to surface.

Last June, we paid the county $555 to put magnesium chloride on 300 feet of road frontage. It kept the dust down about 80 percent, which certainly helped. We got the renewal for the dust patch in the mail the first of April this year, due May 1 and the cost had increased to $1.90 a foot or $570 to do the same 300 feet. When I thought I had until May 1 before anything was done, our dust patch was bladed up on April 10. This blading was done one week before Easter, and at a time when most of us enjoy working out in the yard. The dust has been unbearable. To make matters worse, when I called the county shop to see how soon they would be replacing it, they informed me it would be at least mid-May to the end of May.

We did not get our money’s worth from last year’s payment. What would it have hurt for the county to leave the dust patch, even if I didn’t order the new patch? They put us in a situation to where we had to order another. The other patch was in excellent condition, much better than the rest of the road. It seems to boil down to money. The county should not be making a dime off these dust patches. Our taxes continually go up and on top of that we have this expense as well. In checking with Douglas County, they charge 75 cents a foot and a $45 administration fee. This would cost us $270 in their county compared to the $570 here in the county of Leavenworth. When I asked our county commissioner Joe Daniels why there was such a difference in prices, he said he would get back to me. He never did.

I think it’s a shame that it costs so much just to enjoy the simple things such as hanging out clothes without them turning to mud, sifting outside, or even working out in the yard without choking on dust. Perhaps if the county had simply showed some common courtesy, this problem would not be such an issue. Either way, I think some changes should be made by county personnel in their so called “procedure” as well as in their charges to residents.

Ruth Wickey,

Rural Tonganoxie.