Plowing County Road??

[dodge man]

I hate it when people present miss-accurate information in forums. I hate it even worse when it is me. Our total county road budget is $19,000,000. The $373,000 is a contingency fund, usually used for snow removal.

19 million sounds more like it. By the time you figure benefits and all 373k would just cover about 3 guys pay. The truth is there actual budget is still probably not enough.

 

[lman]

Around here there are a lot of the county roads that are chip and seal with large chuckholes and little maintenance. Some people complained to the highway superintendent about one road and about a week later road equipment showed up and they ground up the pavement to turn it into a gravel road.
I guess they wanted to send a message that there are consequences for complaining.

 

[stevem5215]

Does anyone go to the meetings to find out the budget and project planning for their areas ? I mean, I was part of several organizations where we did planning and lots of people complain but few ever stick their noses in there and find out the truths about this stuff.

 

[jyoutz]

They didn't "encourage" us (my neighbor and I). We went to the roads department together a few years ago to complain in person about the horrific washboard that was accruing on the road. I asked them when they plan to grade it since its been months. That's when I learned about their concern about sparking wildfires off their grader blades. They said they wouldn't stop us if we used something like tires and chain-link behind a pickup or tractor. They mentioned that when I said I'd take my back blade down the road.

I completely understand that. I'm not too hip on the idea of burning fuel and time to do something the county should do. But I also understand that my little neck of the woods is very low priority for snow removal since there are very few homes on my road. What's more important to me is getting in and out safely. Especially with my wife's SUV with our small children in the backseat.


What happened last night: I was coming home from a friends house about 9pm. I came down a steep hill doing about 15mph on compact snow, ice, and loose snow. The bottom of the hill goes around a blind corner. I was in 4 wheel drive in my truck. There was a small car, parked just at the bottom of that hill in the road. There was enough room coming down, but people get a run at that hill going up, around that blind corner. IF someone was going up, and picked up some speed going around the corner, they run the risk of plowing directly into that car. Looking at the tracks, the driver of that car couldn't make it up the hill and decided it was a good idea to park it there. I did call crime check (non-emergency police) to report it, as I didn't recognize it and didn't know who it belonged to. Today, the car was gone when I went into town this morning. Maybe, if the road was plowed, the driver of that car would have been able to get up that hill.

Is that my problem? Yes and no. I get a run at that hill, and so does my wife. Or maybe worse, the driver walking down the road at night getting hit.
Complaining to the roads department is like talking to a wall. County commissioners are worse. Besides, I'm not really the type of person that relies on the government to actually solve problems. But I know they will drop the hammer if they think I did damages to the dirt road by removing the snow. I'm torn.

I was persistent with our county commissioner and ask d him to meet me on the road. We set up an appointment, but before meeting I checked with the roads department about the legal maintenance status. I was told it was M2, meaning periodic grading and snow removal. The roads superintendent was a real AH and said it didn’t matter about the status; they would only do priorities. That’s when I set up the meeting with the county commissioner. I explained the road status and also presented him with a letter signed by me and all residents on the road asking that the county execute their responsibilities. The county started maintaining the road after that. A few years later they paved it. The county portion of the road ends at the corner of my property and the road is private for the next 3/4 miles, including 700’ of frontage on my property. I maintain the entire private section plus 1500’ of road on my land, but now I don’t mess with the 1 mile county road section leading to my property.

 

[Kschwennsen]

I pull my 6' 3pt blade down and back to the highway. I have my hazards on and it's a blacktop road and if the actual plow passes, they give me a thumbs up. I've even taken care of downed trees on the road after snow storms. In the summer, I mow along the shoulders and the end down by the highway and it looks soooo much better. Again though, no one complains about it.

 

[Gord Baker]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

Your town councilor/Mayor/Road Supt. should assure that your road is being plowed if you pay taxes. Plowing or grading the road yourself leaves you open to huge liability if someone has an accident and blames your road prep or lack thereof. Get a written signed damage waiver before you pull someone out of trouble.

 

[skypilot]

Just remind your County, that if there is a fire and the emergency vehicles can’t get to your property, the insurance company may sue them.
When I lived in Barrie Ontario, the 400 highway cut through some township roads making them dead ends, the residents were paying to plow the roads until the insurance company got involved. The township now plows the roads.
There are minimum maintenance standards, so it may take a little longer to get there.

 

[LD48750]

Your town councilor/Mayor/Road Supt. should assure that your road is being plowed if you pay taxes. Plowing or grading the road yourself leaves you open to huge liability if someone has an accident and blames your road prep or lack thereof. Get a written signed damage waiver before you pull someone out of trouble.

Then it is the counties fault for not properly maintaining the road.
If they had, I wouldn't have been there in the first place.
If I did it wrong before they got to it, they should have fixed it.

 

[tjandrews]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

Fascinating. I live in Onondaga County, NY, close to Syracuse, but in a rural part of the county. But I can't relate, because I live on a Federal highway, one of the main east-west routes in the county, so we get plowed first. The state is in charge of maintaining my road, but they pay the county to keep it plowed. And of course the county has their own roads to plow. The county snow removal budget is significant, because we do get a bit of snow in the winter.

A road like you describe would be the responsibility of the township. But we have an excellent town highway department, and it has happened many times that our back town roads have been plowed open long before the tertiary roads in the city of Syracuse have even been touched. We don't have the same problems out here with parked cars, where to pile the snow, etc. I'd much rather be "out here" than "in there."

 

[KilroyJC]

My county road used to be on a school bus route, which meant that our road was plowed quite often. Since the kids that used to ride the bus not longer do so, our road is no longer plowed, like at all. We have had two separate snow events this winter. Each dumped about 6 inches of snow. For some, that's not a ton, for us, that's worthy of sending the grader down the road, which has yet to happen.

My county road is gravel, well, somewhat. Its mostly dirt with some old gravel they put down at least 10 years ago. Its about 3 miles long, with windy twists and turns and steep climbs. Everyone on my road has my phone number and call me when they inevitably end up in the ditch. Even when the road is plowed, they end up in the ditch. I am happy to pull them out using my tractor.

Here I am a few years ago pulling a truck out
View attachment 771827

Since we are no longer getting plowed out, at least in a timely fashion, I am considering running my tractor with my inverted snow blower down the road and back. What are your thoughts on this?

The county has been receptive of us doing our own road "maintenance" during the summer with washboard smoothing. We just cant use a steel blade for fear of sparking a fire, but they recommended dragging tires and chain link fence down the road. But snow removal might be pushing it?

I donno, just a thought. We are expecting another storm soon, that is forecast to dump about 9 inches in a few days.

I would also go to your county Tax office and demand a revaluation to reduce the taxable value of your land by 20%/30%/pick-your-% since you are no longer getting services you are paying for.

bring everyone who loves on your road with you.

 

[ArlyA]

we get snow. Our street in Hancock MI.

 

[ovrszd]

I maintain 50 miles of Township gravel roads. One 1/2 mile deadend road ends at a farm house. He almost always gets it cleared before I get there. So we work together. If he needs me he calls. Otherwise I skip it. I have to road the grader a mile on a paved road to get there.

In my case, if it's a "public" road I open it. Even if it ends at a field with no houses. They pay taxes just like those with a house on their road.

 

[spruce Deere]

The ol' man and I have plowed snow on our county road on several occasions over the years... not that the county would not plow the road, they were terribly slow to get to our road. Why call and complain if we can do it. Then one year the county called the ol' man and told him if anything happened, it's on us.... he told them that the risk of something happening is greater not getting plowed in a timely manner if someone has a medical or some other emergency with the older, retired people that live down the road.

They are a little faster on the snow plowing last few years now, but the new crop of young grader operators need more pointers on plowing snow and grading roads

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I've always been... if you want it done do it yourself. At my old place I got tired of the crashes and abandoned cars in front of my property, so when it snowed I went out to clear the hill and no more problems except for the people who thought I worked for the city that would demand I come and do theirs. Yah, right..... City didn't have the equipment to do much more than the main hwy. Now that I've escaped communism, we live less than a mile from the sand pile so the main drag is always taken care of. Our "spur" road not so much. Picked up a hydraulic snow blade for my big tractor (auction and good price) and I just plow the .6 mile of road (dirt and a hill) and my 2k feet of driveway. I only have 2 "neighbors and they appreciate it. Takes about 35 minutes to do it, so why not. Garbage company knows it'll be clear so they never miss us and I really don't mind. My property taxes went up a bit on my home, down on my ag land. By the way, dead end and we are the last ones on the road.

 

[alpacalips]

On the following page is a pdf link that shows what Spokane County's plowing priorities are supposed to be.

Winter Roads Maintenance | Spokane County, WA

www.spokanecounty.org

I also live in Spokane county. The road I live on has about 10 homes and is classified priority 3 residential, but I haven't seen them plow it once in 5-1/2 years. When we bought the place a neighbor told me as much, that it's a county road but the county won't touch it. There are three of us with tractors and one with a side by side that do that we can to clear the snow as we have time. One of the neighbors even takes a collection and buys rock and gravel to repair the potholes in the summer.

The paved road that our gravel road connects to is a busy road, priority 1 according to the County's map, but it is poorly maintained in the winter. Plowing is rare and they do not apply deicer or sand, so it's frequently packed into an ice sheet.

I've lived in N Idaho and Spokane area all my life so winter driving doesn't bother me, but sometimes I wonder where the taxes go.

 

[Avenger]

On the following page is a pdf link that shows what Spokane County's plowing priorities are supposed to be.

Winter Roads Maintenance | Spokane County, WA

www.spokanecounty.org

I also live in Spokane county. The road I live on has about 10 homes and is classified priority 3 residential, but I haven't seen them plow it once in 5-1/2 years. When we bought the place a neighbor told me as much, that it's a county road but the county won't touch it. There are three of us with tractors and one with a side by side that do that we can to clear the snow as we have time. One of the neighbors even takes a collection and buys rock and gravel to repair the potholes in the summer.

The paved road that our gravel road connects to is a busy road, priority 1 according to the County's map, but it is poorly maintained in the winter. Plowing is rare and they do not apply deicer or sand, so it's frequently packed into an ice sheet.

I've lived in N Idaho and Spokane area all my life so winter driving doesn't bother me, but sometimes I wonder where the taxes go.

Thank you for that!
According to that map, my back country gravel road with 12 houses on it is considered a "Priority 2 - Secondary Arterial" This info blows my mind! Of course, we are in that large northern district 1. We have been there for 14 years. We do get plowed, and used to get plowed same day as the storm event. I was told it was because the school bus goes down that road to pickup my neighbors kids and makes a big loop. They finished school two years ago, and I havent seen the school bus since. And the plows started coming a few days after the snow event. Maybe the map hasn't been updated??

In fact, we got about an inch yesterday, and they sent the grader down the road for the first time this year! It scrapped up almost all the compact snow and ice and created huge berms in front of the driveways. I took my tractor out last night to remove that speed bump and clear my mailbox. So much for the “boots” or “gates” Spokane County uses.

I am confident in my abilities to drive in on these roads. I have been hit (in town) but have yet to hit anyone. Its mostly these cars and bald tires that I worry about. Getting stuck in deep snow in the middle of the road and simply walking away from the car is not a bright idea. But yet they do it! My road is not a dead end, but its also not a main route to anywhere either. So, I'm not even sure why someone in a sedan would even attempt to come up the road with more than a few inches of snow.

Anyway, I probably wont plow my county road, unless its so bad that I feel its completely necessary. Even then, I probably wont go to the pavement, just the steep hills and curves section, if at all. We will see.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Around me it doesn't snow very often at all. So there is not much public equipment to handle it. I've never had a second thought about jumping on a tractor and blading what needs to be done on the road. There are always lots of people out on their tractors clearing their little sections of the roads. The state equipment gets the main roads pretty well and the individuals typically make most areas passable up to the main roads.

 

[Yander]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

 

[ovrszd]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

I've ran a township grader for 35 years. I've got myself tangled up in this mess a couple times. I plow several rural driveways for people that don't have the resources to do so and their drives drift bad. Over the years I've had 3 complain about how I was doing it. I never opened their drives again. All other times I get cards in the mail, sometimes cash, even have people come outside when I'm there and give me a thermos of hot coffee or hot chocolate. I'm usually in their driveways in the wee hours of the morning. Might just be a blink, blink, blink of the porch lite. But I appreciate all of it.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

I feel no obligation to do this, nor do I have expectations of them feeling obligated to help me. No one gets offended or butt hurt and the only time money will change hands is if it's a business transaction.