Board approves 5-Year Road Program amendment

     A few weeks ago, Assistant Jones County Engineer Todd Postel brought it to the Jones County Supervisors' attention that a bridge on Stone City Road over Crow Creek had failed and would need to be immediately closed until further notice.

   Now that plans are in motion to replace that structure, County Engineer Derek Snead sought the board's approval to amend the two-week old Five-Year Road Program to add the bridge to the current accomplishment year.

   "That is unfortunate. It is what it is, but it's not a big change," he said.

   An anticipated letting date would be in April 2026, a year from now.

   The estimated project cost is $750,000.

   "That is definitely toward the ceiling," said Snead. "We don't know what box culvert-type work is going to look like next spring."

   The estimate for Stone City Road Bridge was based on recent similar work on County Road X-31.

   "We think the structure will be a little bit larger than X-31. But we also don't have the associated concrete paving with that project," he said. "I do think this will come in under $750,000."

   The Stone City project will utilize federal HBP (Highway Bridge Program) funds.

   The board approved the modification to the Five-Year Road Program.

   Snead also clarified reasons this project cannot be expedited due to so much work that is required behind the scenes.

   By using federal dollars, there are more hoops to jump through when replacing a bridge like this.

   "The one big trigger that really makes a difference in the world of structures is right of way," said Snead. "We have to do a cultural resource investigation, we have to check if it's an historic bridge, we have to investigate any wetlands, we have Waters of the U.S. that we have to worry about, the Corps of Engineers."

   He said in the event they don't need right of way, for example, they could bypass that step, which could then speed up the project a bit.

   "We're just underneath the thresholds that require some of those additional steps, steps that unfortunately we can't skip in order to utilize those funds," said Snead. "A lot of these things are also in succession of one another."

   For example, Secondary Roads can't purchase right of way until they have their NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) clearances. They can't get their NEPA clearance until the archaeological stuff has been investigated.

   "We have these things going on in the background to try and expedite the project," Snead reiterated. "There would be a possibility, if we get some of those approvals faster than anticipated, to move up that letting. We're trying to get consultants out there to expedite the process. I think we will be able to get it done before then; not something we're going to be able to let in July or something like that. There are things that we could run into that could push it back."