By JESSICA BRICKER and DAVE SCHULTZ
Lynn Blevins, Wells County’s public health nurse, brought up a subject during Thursday morning’s meeting of the Health Department’s board. It didn’t have anything to do directly with public health, but Blevins figured it had a great deal to do with the well-being of those who live in the Liberty Center area.
The community has been beset by bad roads, torn up by the installation of a sanitary sewer collection system under the auspices of the Regional Sewer District.
And since Blevins had two representatives of the RSD in front of him, he asked Lewis Brown, the district’s superintendent, and Leon Berning, a board member, about the community’s roads.
“If it would stay frozen, you could put stone on it,” Brown said. “It will get better.”
“It’s terrible,” Blevins responded.
“It is a problem,” Brown said, and then repeated his promise: “It will get better.”
The road situation has the attention of county officials as they continue to monitor the work on 300W through Liberty Center.
Wells County Engineer Nate Rumschlag, who has been an advisor to the RSD throughout the Liberty Center and Murray installations, said in late February that he has inspected the roadway and is aware that the commissioners have received phone calls about it. He also spoke to Brown about it.
Rumschlag said the Wells County Highway Department and VTF Construction, the contractor on the sewer installaton, have been performing regular maintenance of the roadway as the sewer project progresses. However, the freeze-thaw cycle has been rough on the roadway and maintenance one day leads to complaints the next day.
“I know it’s certainly not making everybody satisfied with where it’s at,” Rumschlag told the commissioners Feb. 22. “I know I’m not satisfied with it.”
But there is no permanent pavement solution that can be put down right now, Rumschlag said. Asphalt plants don’t open for the season for a couple more months. It could be April, May or longer before a permanent surface can be installed.
Limiting traffic to locals only is hard to police, Rumschlag said. When barricades were installed, people were going around or even through them. Nearby yards have been torn up by traffic as well.
Signs urging drivers to take the area slowly are visible in the unincorporated community.
The only real alternative to the current situation is to completely close the roadway until the project is completed.
The area is going to be rough, Rumschlag said, but it’s been the request of the public and nearby businesses to keep 300W open.
Rumschlag said if the commissioners would like to close the road, they should let him know. If it becomes unsafe, an emergency decision may be warranted.
“We got to go slow,” he said. “It is a temporary surface for a reason, and it’s a bad season for it.”
jessica@news-banner.com
