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Page County engineer reports road repairs, bridge grant and trail funding; board raises detour concerns
Summary
Page County Engineer JD King briefed the board on road patching, salt inventory and bridge work and said Wabash Trace received $285,000 in state trail funding; board members pressed for clearer detour signage after a J 52 closure routed drivers onto dirt roads.
JD King, Page County Engineer, told the board on Nov. 18 that crews are working on blade and rock placement, were mowing brush on J 52 with a skid steer and are preparing trucks and plows for winter. King said crews recently used a second wheel loader to clear rubble in a wind-turbine area and that snowplows will be hooked up to county trucks.
King reported the county received another load of salt, bringing his on-hand inventory "to 75" in his words and that an additional load has been ordered. He said salt and sand mixes are being stored in bins as a precaution. King also said concrete and patching operations on J 52 were completed and that work on Redwood Avenue and the Yorktown Bridge development is ongoing.
On grant-funded projects, King reported the Essex Bridge remains in grant closeout and requires additional administrative steps, and he said the Wabash Trace Brack Park connector trail was awarded $285,000 in state recreational trail funds and that a project agreement had arrived by email and would be on next week's agenda for the board to review.
During questions, a board member criticized the county's handling of a temporary closure on J 52 that left some drivers routed onto dirt roads during foggy conditions and asked why signed detours were not posted. King said the choice to post a detour depends on the expected length of the closure, traffic counts and the existing road network; he said "for a day" closure the county may not post a formal detour but would for longer or higher-traffic closures.
The board also discussed a staggered closure on J 20 and Redwood that at one point left a segment blocked; a board member asked staff to follow up about how a school bus negotiated the barricades and about sandbags left at the site. King said he would talk with his crew about the site conditions.
The engineer update concluded with King noting he expects to bring price estimates for hauling rock in the spring and that he would present the Wabash Trace project agreement to the board next week.
