Residents address county roads

The roads on the west end of Sanders County need more attention. That was the message from residents and local politicians as they met with Sanders County Commissioners last week.

Paul Fielder of Thompson Falls, a Republican running for House District 13 this year, said he’s been hearing from residents about the condition of roads in Noxon and Heron, including Martin Creek Road, Stevens Creek Road and roads around the Avista property east of Noxon. Resident Gerry Campbell arranged the meeting to allow citizens to come forward, Fielder noted. While a handful of residents also addressed the commissioners, Fielder said he also encouraged people to write in comments, and he handed the commissioner letters from residents.

Daniel McLinden, Jr., said the biggest concern is that with the impending closure of Trout Creek bridge during construction and repairs this summer, locals are going to be using the back road on Marten Creek in Trout Creek to get to the west end of the county. Bill Bisnett of Noxon said his road is full of chuck holes. “We need to open it up and trim trees back and fill some of those holes,” he urged.

Nevin Byler of Heron asked commissioners why the roads don’t get graded more often. Lee Smith, foreman for Road District 3 in the west end of the county, said weather is the biggest problem in maintaining county roads. He said crews grade in the spring and the fall. If it’s too wet or too hot and dries out, their efforts are less effective.

“We had spring break-up all winter with freezing and thawing,” Ben Bache, foreman for Road District 1 and 2 in Sanders County, said of the erratic winter weather this year.

State Sen. Jennifer Fielder (R-Dist. 7) said that she’s been hearing a lot of complaints about the roads. “For the last year or so, most I’ve been hearing is on the west end. Maybe we can use the Trout Creek Bridge project to leverage extra assistance for alternate routes and get funds where they would do the most good.” The commissioners stated that with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) planning to repair the Trout Creek Bridge this summer, the state is planning improvements on Blue Slide Road as the alternate route. The commissioners stated that Martin Creek Road is not an approved alternate route for the project, though locals will probably be using that route some.

Rep. Bob Brown of Thompson Falls said that “even local traffic going on Martin Creek is going to be a lot.” He noted that MDT has recently reduced the load limit on the Vermilion Creek bridge to 16 tons. The road supervisors said that isn’t enough to support a snowplow truck. The commissioners said they had just been notified last week of the load limit change on the bridge.

Carolyn Carter of Noxon is a member of the local ambulance service and explained they have talked about using Marten Creek for emergency transport during the Trout Creek Bridge project. “The ambulance service needs to have decent roads to pick up patients,” she said.

County Commissioner Carol Brooker said additional funding is needed to increase the number of road projects in the county. “If we don’t get a new revenue stream for roads, we’re going to be in a world of hurt. We’re going to have to figure out new ways to get money for roads.” Commissioner Glen Magera noted there are 497 miles of road in the county. The county levied 20.99 mills for roads last year, or $857,000 in revenue. The commissioners said they haven’t raised road taxes for 25 years, and that the property tax money for roads doesn’t cover payroll and benefits for the road crews, which is why other funding sources from the state and federal government are pursued each year.