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Residents push Sabine Parish committee to limit paving on narrow Long Road to avoid ditching and property loss
Summary
At the Road and Shop Committee meeting, Long Road residents urged officials to avoid widening that could require ditches and take private property, asking instead for targeted graveling or dust-control measures; staff said the project is planned as an 'edge-to-edge' overlay and no additional right-of-way purchase is intended.
Long Road residents pressed the Sabine Parish Road and Shop Committee on Nov. 2024 to avoid road work that would widen the roadway and require new ditches that take private property. Resident (Speaker 5) said graveling the stretch by the house would control dust without the parish needing to acquire land: “We’re afraid that if you do that, it’s gonna require ditches,” the resident said.
Committee staff and the road superintendent said the project is on the books, has been surveyed and engineered, and the parish intends to overlay the existing road "edge to edge." Unidentified Speaker 1, speaking for parish operations, told residents the parish hired a surveyor to locate the existing road and will not buy additional right-of-way to widen the corridor: "We have a plan to overlay what's there, and that's what we're gonna do."
The discussion covered surface options and trade-offs. Residents argued that previously used washed gravel helped with dust when applied selectively and reported having found sources since the last meeting. Parish staff responded that loose washed gravel can roll off and that an asphalt or oil-sand surface would reduce dust and long-term maintenance; they also noted differences in rock types and the parish’s need for a compactable base for overlays.
Residents raised additional concerns about past crew work and tree damage near the road. One resident said parish crews cut tree trunks and left marks; parish staff acknowledged a pruning error on a single tree and said they had offered to replace it.
The committee emphasized it would work from the existing road edge: "anything that's hanging over in the road...that is your responsibility because all we're gonna claim is where that asphalt is," a staff member said. No final change to the project was made at the meeting; residents sought clarity on a recent survey they said misstated property lines and asked the parish to confirm what portion of frontage will remain private without new right-of-way acquisition.
The committee proceeded to the next agenda item after the discussion.
