In Harm’s Way

By NEIL O. NELSON

Flooding has damaged roads and bridges all across the Red River Basin this spring.

Few areas were spared as the rivers after spilling out of their banks cared little which direction they took and which roads they took out.

Still totaling the damages, Traill County’s road and bridge man, Aaron Lande, reported this week that 95 miles of roads in the county were closed to traffic at some point in the recent flooding.

Three bridges will need considerable repairs.

There were 59 sites (roads and bridges) impacted by the flooding rivers and ever-spreading overland flooding, according to Lande.

It will take an estimated $150,000 to $200,000 to repair County Road 2 running alongside the Red River in East Traill. 

Lande and KLJ engineer Kris Bakkegard expect it will take 15,000 yards of dirt and an additional 5,000 yards of gravel to make the road ready again.

“It will be fairly expensive to fix,” said Bakkegard.

The gravel road from Caledonia to Halstad was totally rebuilt following the 1997 flood.

To mitigate future damages caused by the flooding Red River, District 1 commissioner Tom Eblen questioned if the road this time around shouldn’t be built up or raised one foot.

We should be approaching this in a way that can prevent this damage from happening again, Eblen suggested.

The Hillsboro commissioner, Lande and Bakkegard agreed the road repair project should be bid as quickly as possible. CR2 is a much-traveled road, they conceded. As much as five miles of CR2 was heavily damaged by the spreading Red River. The road is currently closed.

Another main line road that starts in Traill but leads west to Hope in Steele County has also been closed. The road (CR5) that empties into Steele County is suspect in any large rain event, in addition to the annual spring melt.
County expects

help from FEMA

County officials expect FEMA to cover at least 90 percent of the damages to their roads and bridges.

Traill County Emergency Services Director Mike Crocker fully anticipates the county will be added to the presidential disaster declaration that assures affected areas federal money.

Traill, Steele, Griggs and Towner counties were inexplicably omitted from the federal disaster declaration issued earlier this month. The unexplained omission occurred at a level outside Traill County, claim Traill officials.
Shortage of gravel

concerns townships

If there’s common ground shared by county and township officers it’s gravel, Traill’s five commissioners were reminded this week.

It isn’t a matter that the commissioners have intentionally ignored; however; the answer is not a simple one, they know.

Nevertheless, Mike Beltz, Caledonia farmer, urged the commission on Tuesday to find a solution to the lack of available gravel in the county.

Stressing the financial impact faced by townships in search of good quality but decently priced gravel, Beltz challenged the Traill county board to either establish a gravel pit or rail in gravel.

Currently, much of the gravel reaching East Traill crosses two counties, according to Beltz.

Gravel, Beltz said, is an important issue for townships.

The commissioners appreciate the plight of the townships, acknowledged commission chairman Arne Osland.

The county, he said, faces a “extremely large challenge” in maintaining its network of roads.

“It’s the No. 1 issue out in the county,” Osland added.

And it’s only going to get worse, the commission chairman fears.

Still, Osland accepted Beltz’s challenge.

He promised he would attempt to find a solution, at least an answer to elevated concern shared by all 25 townships in the county.