Dear editor,
The attached pictures are of Range Road 32, north of Highway 13, on April 17. Like Wayne Maygard we had a lot of snow on Easter weekend but no snowplows ever appeared. There was so much snow April 15 and 16 we never left our house but needed to travel on Apr. 17. Without all-wheel drive, we would not have made it to Highway 13.
The problem is not just the snow and the failure to plow before the snow melts which compounds the problem. It is the inadequate base on a lot of our rural roads.
Any gravel placed on top just disappears into the mud. It is a no-win situation and a costly mistake to believe short cuts can be taken when building a road. Without an adequate road base, added gravel just disappears or is pushed to the side.
What is it costing the county taxpayers to add gravel to roads which generally disappears entirely after each rain or snowfall? We actually observed the roadbuilders “re-doing” TWP 464 near Range Road 32 a number of years ago—they pushed soil and clay onto the road from the banks they were sloping, rather than take it away—with the inevitable result—similar in many areas to what you see on RR 32.
While the county has made some improvement to TWP 464 since then, possibly due to our complaints, the base is still inadequate and driveway approaches have been largely ignored. County residents who are also trying to run home-based businesses are not well served and must despair after every snow melt and rainfall.
Like Wayne I hope the new Public Works director will make fixing road infrastructure a priority.
Darlene Belford, County of Wetaskiwin