Winneshiek County crews continue to battle to get gravel roads back into good driving condition

Winneshiek County Engineer Lee Bjerke calls this spring "far and away the worst spring I have had to deal with."  However, county highway crews have been out rocking roads for three weeks now.  Prior to that, very little of the gravel system was fit for county trucks to travel on.

The problem for Winneshiek County extends from the Howard County border to the Allamakee County border and from the Minnesota state line to Fayette County.  Bjerke says the Road Department is pooling its trucks, adjusting work schedules, hiring additional truck crews and working extra hours.

Bjerke says now that much, but not all, of the county road system is in a "fair" condition to haul on, "we are finally getting good production from our hauling efforts."  Another issue has popped up, however—other counties are in the same situation, which means Winneshiek County's stone hauling contractor is stretched thin and is not always able to make deliveries because many counties are also desperate for rock.

Says Bjerke, "I would love to give you great news that we are going to have it all fixed by the end of the week, but (repairing) hundreds of miles of frost boil-damaged gravel will take time."