Cochise County supervisors open review of road add/drop policy, schedule public hearings

Cochise County Board of Supervisors members on Tuesday reviewed a staff proposal to apply formal criteria for adding roads to — or removing roads from — the county maintenance system and agreed to notify affected residents and hold public hearings before the board votes.

Public works staff presented the criteria and an initial list of candidate roads by supervisor district, and recommended that the board not increase the total miles the county maintains without offsetting deletions. "We don't want to add additional miles to what we are already maintaining because of the cost of funds, there is the limited funds," said Jason, a public works staff member who presented the lists and cost estimates.

Why it matters: a decision to add a road to the county maintenance system changes who pays for grading, chip sealing and other maintenance; a decision to drop a road for county maintenance changes how often a road will be serviced and can affect emergency access, school-bus routing and local traffic circulation.

Staff overview and…