Bruns voices concern on 50 West

Jay County Commissioners had few solid answers for a rural Bryant resident who says his road has been damaged by traffic diverted from two nearby highways. But help may be on the way.

Jerry Bruns, who lives on county road 50 West northwest of Bryant, told Commissioners Mike Leonhard and Gary Theurer Monday morning that the road, which was converted to chip-and-seal from stone just three years ago, has sustained major damage.

Ken Wellman, superintendent of the Jay County Highway Department, said this morning that county crews are working right now on the problem.

Wellman said that county highway workers have been digging out and working to repair the worst areas of the two-mile stretch of road from Ind. 18 to the Jay-Adams county line. He also said a maintenance layer of chip-and-seal will be applied sometime in the next week or so.

Part of the reason for the damage, Bruns said, is that in the aftermath of accidents on Ind. 18 and U.S. 27, a majority of the traffic has been diverted to one of the few roads that directly connects Ind. 18 and Ind. 116.

Bruns suggested that the commissioners contact state officials about possible reimbursement.

Wellman said the road is used heavily by area farmers and residents who wish to avoid U.S. 27 between Bryant and Geneva.

“This (fix) is probably going to be a temporary thing. I think this is the best solution for now, and we’ll have to see how it holds up,” Wellman said. “That road may be one that should be earmarked for ... paving ... because there’s a lot of traffic.”

On Monday, Theurer and Leonhard said they did not believe the county would receive any money from the state for the damage.

“We’ll try,” Theurer said.

Bruns also made two other suggestions to the commissioners — the purchase of a skid loader and compactor to pack stone better during road repairs and a change in the way the current free dump day at the Jay County Landfill is administered.

Bruns said that when back-filling holes created during the installation of culverts or other road repairs, county crews aren’t packing the stone adequately. He said that is causing the new asphalt or chip-and-seal to sink, causing a dip in the road.

“They can’t fix the road right if they don’t have the right equipment,” Bruns said.

Bruns also asked Leonhard and Theurer to consider changing from twice-a-year free dumping at the landfill to a voucher system that would allow more flexibility. He suggested that vouchers be given out when property taxes are paid that would allow taxpayers to dump a free ton/pick-up load at their convenience.

The two commissioners said they were interested in that proposal and would discuss it with Miller.[[In-content Ad]]