Rice County pays $80k to fix 38 areas of roads

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won her election by about 10 points as a newcomer with a campaign characterized by a simple phrase: “Fix the damn roads.”

While it may not repair over 20,000 lane miles in a four-year term like Whitmer, Rice County does budget each year for regular improvements to its county roads. On Tuesday morning, the Rice County Board of Commissioners approved an $80,000 project to fix the roads in 38 different locations.

Rice County Highway Engineer Dennis Luebbe said, while the repairs aren’t to fix massively destructive potholes, the problem they are addressing can be an “inconvenience” especially for commercial truck drivers. He said, in some cases, it can damage equipment on vehicles.

“After all, we are in the business of ensuring the health and safety of the traveling public,” he said.

Potholes are addressed by the county highway department in some cases, which Commissioner Galen Malecha asked Luebbe about.

“We do not do this type of asphalt patching,” Luebbe answered. “… We don’t have the equipment to lay down. We just do the very small (potholes). … We have surface-maintenance equipment to do the potholes and crack filling, repairs like that.”

However, these 38 locations are much larger than that. In some cases, they expand some 30 feet down the 6-10 roads with repairs needed.

Luebbe later clarified that the areas needing to be fixed are more bumps or “settlements” in the road, many of which are due to culvert replacements in that same area.

After a culvert replacement, space can be left empty or soil can be left disturbed under the road. Over time, that can result in the road dipping in that spot.

“You might not notice it in a passenger vehicle,” Luebbe said. “But, when you hit that thing in a big commercial truck or something, then you’ll definitely feel it.”

He said the size of each dip varies dramatically.

“Fundamentally, a lot of this is just due to the freeze-thaw action we have over time,” he said. “We might be replacing five feet of dirt in some locations. In other locations, it’s 10 feet. So you’re going to get some consolidation over time, regardless of how much energy and effort we put into it while we’re right there doing the work.”

He finished by mentioning the work is ongoing and common for the county and its contractors. He was unable to provide a list of the roads to be repaired by Tuesday afternoon.

While the county does not have a form to report a pothole, the city of Faribault does. Luebbe said reports usually find their way to his department, or he receives them directly.

“We’re all in this together after all,” he said.