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BACKUS - It looks like it is more cost effective to pave roads than to repeatedly re-gravel and apply chloride to gravel surfaced roads, County Engineer David Enblom told the county board Tuesday.

For this reason, Enblom said he plans to prepare a proposed paving plan for additional roads to implement when the up-front money to pave more roads is available. He said he would like to be able to begin more paving while oil prices are down.

He said he has done some rough calculation. The result appears to be that it costs, over the approximate 20 to 25 year life span of asphalt, about $6,000 annually per mile to have a paved road versus about $8,000 per year to have a gravel road.

Enblom also has been studying all-terrain vehicle (ATV) damage to driveways crossing county road rights-of-way. County employees have identified 52 driveways which have been damaged by ATVs crossing when riders run in road ditches.

Extending culverts, so riders go up a more gradual slope to cross driveways would help, he said. A harder surface over the driveway where ATVs cross also would reduce damage, he added.

To pave over the driveway where ATVs cross would cost about $3,000 per driveway. To place another type of harder surface would run about $1,500. Enblom said there are a variety of surfaces now available, such as a belting material and a concrete mat.

Total cost, if the county did improve slopes and place a harder surface over the trail area on 52 driveways, would run between $75,000 and $150,000.

Tuesday, the county board authorized Enblom to do one pilot project on one driveway to see how well improvements work. The county will supply materials for this project and the property owner will do the regrading and installation.

Cass County owns three gravel pits used to supply county road maintenance projects. They are located in Hiram, Fairview and Thunder Lake Townships.

Tuesday, the county board voted to allow expansion to the north, but not to the south for the Thunder Lake pit and to set operation hours for that pit at 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Assistant County Engineer Kris Lyytinen said the county has been crack sealing 30 more miles per year of paved roads in recent years, so will be contracting for that work this year.

Cass will contract to paint 3 million feet of lane striping on 196.5 miles of paved roads this summer at about 4 cents a foot. About 482,000 gallons of chloride will be applied to 171.7 miles of gravel roads.

All Cass gravel roads carrying at least 100 vehicles per day receive chloride treatment to prevent fine gravel from blowing off the road and to minimize wash boarding.

Cass has a five-year cycle to apply new gravel over existing gravel roads. This year, 11 gravel roads in the Pine River to Pillager area will receive new gravel overlay, Lyytinen said.

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