Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Public Hearing On Kimball County Road Plans Draws Big Crowd
Kimball County's public hearing on its 1-and-6 road plan was of much interest to folks living outside Kimball city limits. Part of the crowd is pictured above.
The public hearing for Kimball County's one-and-six year plan for roads opened to a packed room.
The main concern on the road improvement plan was Road 59, otherwise known as the Dix road. The county's plan included grinding up seven miles of pavement and returning that part of the road to gravel.
County Road Superintendent Randy Bymer explained that there was an additional plan not to tear up the road and do a chip seal project on it.
A number of area residents spoke on the issue, including Bruce Graham, Mark Halstead, Colt Alexander, Jake Daum, Gary Haack and Potter-Dix Public Schools Superintendent Chris Arent. The public consensus was that the chip seal option would be better than tearing the road out.
Bymer estimated the chip seal project to be about $700,000. The decision was made to remove the "grind and gravel" option from the one-and-six year plan and replace it with the chip seal option for Road 59.
In other road business, resident Tracy Klenda described Road 17W as "bad, washboardy, and lots of ruts." She said she has missed work at times because of the conditions of the road and her husband, a truck driver, must leave his truck 10 miles away because the road is so bad. Discussion continued on a possible solution.
Kimberly Sharples contributed to this report.
