Q: Who's responsibility is it to maintain a given road? (Maintenance responsibilities include all activities necessary to keep the road to an acceptable level of service including, but not limited to, snow plowing, repairing roads, and reconstruction.)
A: There are basically four different highway authorities who have maintenance responsibilities with in Boone County which are listed, along with the general jurisdictional responsibly:
State:Responsible for all marked and unmarked state routes and interstates. State roads can exist within the corporate limits of a city or village.County: Responsible for all county roads which, in general, consist of main collector routes. County roads can also exist within the corporate limits of a city of village.
Click Here for a list of roads maintained by Boone County.Township: (Road District): Responsible for all township roads within a given township. Roads on township lines may be the responsibility of either of the adjacent townships and it may change from one section to another. Click HERE for a list of Township Highway Commissioners.
Township roads cannot exist within the corporate limits of a city or village. Therefore, if the corporate limits of a road is adjacent to or included within any part of the right-of-way that road is the maintenance responsibility of the city or village.City or Village:Responsible for all public streets within the corporate limits except any State or county roads within the corporate limits.
Q: What are the County Policies regarding:
Snow Plowing
As was previously stated, one of the maintenance responsibilities is snow removal. While every highway authority provides snow removal in some form, they all provide a very different level of services depending on who the authority is. This variation in level of services is due to the availability of resources, or lack thereof. For example, the State has enough resources to run snow plows 24 hours a day, if necessary, by using temporary employees. On the other hand, the county has a far more limited number of maintenance employees, making a 24 hour per day snow removal operation impossible under the current limitations. Townships often have even fewer resources than the county, which limits their operations as well.
In order to minimize overtime expenditures the county tries to perform snow plowing operations during normal business hours (7 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.) However, there are times when that is not feasible without compromising the safety to the public. When work outside normal business hours is required, the county uses the following general guidelines:
As a general rule, the county makes every attempt to keep all the county roads passable during the time when a majority of the public will be at or traveling to/from work (7A.M to 6 P.M.), Monday through Friday. If through the night there is substantial snowfall of if wind causes substantial drifting of now, plowing operations will begin usually around 4:00 A.M. so that at least one round can be completed on all roads. On weekends starting times may be a little later in the morning.
If snowfall is minimal or has quit completely and drifting is not significant, snow plowing operations will stop by 3:30. If however, there is significant snowfall or drifting anticipated the county will generally stay on the roads until 5 or 6 P.M. The county may stay out until as late at 8 P.M. or so, although this is rare. The maintenance worker that is out until 8 P.M. is the same one that will be out the following morning at 4 A.M. Driving a snow plow truck, especially while it is dark and when there is little visibility, is a very exhausting job and rest for the driver is very important the safety of the worker as well as for the general public. Rarely will the county ever be out between 8:00 P.M. and 4:00 A.M. For this reason, we suggest that traveling during this time period be kept to an absolute minimum during inclement roadway conditions.
In addition to the removal of snow using plow trucks, the county also actively applies ice control materials to prevent the formation of ice on the road or to remove ice that has already formed. Currently the county uses a mixture of salt, rock chips, and slag. The salt melts and/or prevents ice or snow on the road. This chips and slag provide an abrasive for better traction with the road surface. It is important to note that salt does not work at extremely low temperatures and there are times in which ice may be on the road where we do not apply salt for this very reason. Also, if high winds are present, often times ice control materials are not applied. When the wind is blowing hard and the temperature is cold enough snow will often times blow across the road rather than build up on the road. If ice control materials are on the road they tend to catch the snow and start the process of drifting.
Drive slower than under normal, dry conditions. A vehicle on a wet road has less traction than on a dry pavement. Winter temperatures compound that problem with the formation of ice. White we make every attempt to keep the roads as safe as possible, sometimes we are unable to keep up with the pace of nature and hazardous areas can develop without much warning.
During heavy snowfall conditions and especially if there is blowing and drifting drive only when absolutely necessary and stay on state roads as much as possible. This is particularly true at night when plows are no longer operating. On occasion, although rare, significant snowfall in combination with high winds can cause a road to become so hazardous that the county is unable to keep the road open. If possible we attempt to notify the authorities and provide signs if at all possible.
The right-of-way is defined by state statutes as "the land, interest therein, acquired for devoted to a highway." What this means is that the highway authority has the sole responsibility to determine what gets built within this designated area.
Right-of-way can consist of privately owned property that is designated for right-of-way purposes, which is often called a "right-of-way easement". In this situation, the landowner does legally own the property but basically transfers the authority over that property to the highway authority for as long as it remains a public road. The highway authority then determines what can or can't be done within this area. One exception to this is the installation of utilities. A utility company must get approval from both the highway authority and the landowner in order to install utilities within the right-of-way.
If the land within the right-of-way has been given to the highway authority by quick claim deed or similar fashion, then the public body is, in fact, the landowner for that property.
Irregardless of the type of right-of-way that exists for a given road, the highway authority must approve of any work performed within the right-of-way. Nothing should be installed, placed or built within the right-of-way without the prior approval of the appropriate highway authority. For road district (township) roads the Highway Commissioner must give that approval. For County roads the County Engineer gives that approval and for State roads the State gives the approval. It is very important to contact the appropriate authority before a person installs anything within the right-of-way and it is, in fact, illegal to do so. Entrance culverts, mailboxes, signs, etc. can all impose obstacles that could make it difficult for the highway authority to perform services associated with the maintenance of roads.
If you don't know exactly where the right-of-way line is, contact the appropriate highway authority. The right-of-way on State and county roads are usually well documented but township roads often times are not. However, the County's highway commissioner,or the individual Township road commissioner's can usually tell you where it is.
Before doing anything within the right-of-way, please contact the appropriate highway authority!
Dead animals on the roadway can often times be a hazard to the traveling public. If a large dead animal (a large dog, deer, etc.) is laying on the roadway or right-of-way please contact the appropriate highway authority that has jurisdiction of that road.
Road Hazard Notification
Often times hazardous conditions develop on public roads such as trees or limbs falling on the roadway, debris falling off of trucks, roads are washed out during heavy rainfall, water on the road, etc. If a potentially hazardous condition exists on a road you should contact the Sheriff's Department who will then notify the appropriate highway authority.
Disclaimer The information on this site is meant to provide an additional source of news about the Boone
County Board and its activities. It is subject to change and is not a substitute for any official agenda, statement or official meeting. All notice requirements must still be done in accordance with the existing law and those citizens who discuss issues before the Boone County Board should follow the established procedure. For any further questions, please call the County Administration Office at (815) 547-4770.