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Township and county officials are asking for patience this spring as melting snow and thawing conditions are making gravel roads nearly impassable.
“The roads are … muck,” said Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre.
“We’ve had so much snow, and now with it melting, it’s affecting the drivability of our roads.”
He said he’s hearing complaints from all parts of the county, and the problem will get worse before it gets better.
“It’s universal. There isn’t a single area that’s the problem. I don’t know how we approach it, except to ask people to be patient,” Oldre said.
“We’ve implemented load limits and we hope people haul in the morning when it’s frozen and don’t haul when it warms up. … I know that isn’t always possible if you’re expecting deliveries.”
Those necessary deliveries, along with some poor judgment and short tempers, are pitting neighbors against each other and prompting complaints to public officials.
Generally, heavy hauling — such as grain, feed and manure — should be done in the morning while roads are still frozen.
Generally, most farmers are honoring morning hauling schedule (for manure, grain and other commodities) while roads are still frozen, but some don’t have options.
Swine operators, for example, haul on packers’ schedules.
“We try to do it in the morning when the roads are frozen, but the packers have dock times when they want them delivered,” said Tom Baustian, who has a hog finishing operation on 70th Avenue.
“We’re trying to get pigs delivered this week that were canceled last week when it snowed, so now they’re overweight and we’ll get docked,” he said Friday.
Baustian hauls 80,000-pound semi loads on a schedule set by the packers.
“In seven days I had 11 semi trucks of pigs loaded out and four semi loads of feed brought in.”
The result, of course, was a nearly impassable township road.
Baustian, a Springwater Township Board member, called Reker Construction to deliver crushed concrete to his road and a few others in similar shape. He ordered 65 loads.
“We’re having them spot apply it where it’s most needed,” Baustian said. “We’re trying to keep the roads halfway safe until things dry out.”
Baustian said he hopes township residents let the board know of other areas needing help.
“If we don’t know about it, it’s kind of hard to get it fixed,” he said.
He said he, too, is urging people to be patient and follow alternate paths where possible.
For example, he typically pumps hog manure pits in the spring, but the tanker trucks used to haul the liquid manure are particularly hard on gravel roads.
“They have those really big tires, not like semis that spread the weight out better,” Baustian said. “I’m hoping to plant oats, and when I get them off this summer, I’ll put manure on then.”
Meanwhile, people traveling the roads in cars and pickup trucks are getting stuck trying to navigate the deep ruts left by heavy equipment.
Rock County Commissioner Gary Overgaard said tempers are flaring.
“People are losing their cool. It’s getting out of hand,” he said Friday. “We just have to realize we’re all in the same boat. We have to use some common sense.”
He said people’s livelihoods depend on gravel roads, but some roads may need to be closed in order to protect both the roads and the motorists.
“The truck traffic is causing ruts, and people in their cars are getting hung up and they’re losing parts of their cars,” Overgaard said. “It’s a tough deal.”
He said he’s getting requests from residents to have gravel put on their roads, but that would require heavy equipment that will further damage roads.
“You’re going to make tracks just getting gravel to where you want it,” he said. “People’s patience is wearing thin, because they want to get out yesterday.”
He said as long as the snow is piled up on the sides of the road with nowhere to melt but on the road, the problem will persist. "It’s just going to take time.”
Hills-Beaver Creek and Luverne school districts have alerted families that buses will travel only on blacktop roads until conditions improve.
That means families must bring their children to meet buses or drive them directly to school.
Overgaard was relieved to hear this, because he was afraid the county would need to declare that policy.
Now, he’s concerned about other steps commissioners may need to impose.
“These are steps we have to take,” he said. “Because if we keep driving on these roads, we’re going to destroy them.”