County Paving Limited To Nine Miles This Year

Weather and equipment issues limited the Ste. Genevieve County road and bridge department to getting less than half its goal of 20 miles of road paved in 2019.

The road crews wrapped up the 2019 paving by finishing Carron Road, giving them about nine miles of gravel roads paved for the year. The annual goal in recent years has been 20 miles a year. Spring flooding each year has played havoc with those plans, however, diverting much manpower to rehabilitating damaged roads.

This year, mechanical issues also slowed the department’s progress. At one point in September, four of the department’s seven trucks were out of commission.

“Nine miles isn’t bad, considering everything we went through,” Second District County Commissioner Joe Gettinger said when the commissioners went over the results with road and bridge foreman Scott Schmieder at last Thursday’s County Commission meeting.

This year, Madden Creek Road, Bodine Road, Jones Road and Carron Road were paved.

In 2020, Coffman Road, Saline Creek Road and Charter Church Road will probably be the first three roads tackled.

See complete story in the October 9 edition of the Herald.