Impatient Drivers Lead to County Road Closures

In his Highway Reports, Steve Berg told the Commissioners that various repairs are underway, including the successful paving of the Holland Dumpster site and Holland Road Southwest. The crew will be proceeding off Old Huntingburg Road and then on to Ireland. While they are there, they will prepare the Haysville site on Wednesday to have it ready for Thursday paving. 

Berg said that the department has been attempting to maintain a normal flow of traffic while performing their overlays by utilizing partial road closures. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in drivers who do not respect the marked zones, refusing to slow in the construction zones, which poses a great safety risk to the crews. As a result, full road closures will have to go into effect while crews are working. These closure locations are posted on the department website. 

Phase 2 of the county-wide bridge inspection project has been completed, which means that each bridge in the county has been visually inspected. The report was presented and accepted by the board. Bridge 254 on Saint Anthony Road West is scheduled to be replaced beginning at the end of June. There project will have an aggressive completion schedule in order to coordinate with paving that will be done on Saint Anthony Road West as part of the community crossing project. As the original contractor could not meet the timeframe that they had previously agreed to, the board approved the selection of a new contractor in order to complete the work as scheduled. 

Becky Guthrie from Ride Solutions presented a 2025 budget request to the Commissioners for review, explaining that demand for transportation services within the county has been increasing, as well as an influx from other counties. The route for Head Start, which discontinued their own transportation services a while ago, has created a particularly high demand. Currently, there are not enough drivers or vehicles to meet the current need. As many users are on a fixed income, fares are nominal and the organization makes every effort not to increase prices. Guthrie expressed the organization’s thanks for the county’s support and their desire to continue assisting Dubois County residents. 

 - By Drew Hasselbring