Highway Superintendent Insists Road Unpaved for 50 Years Is Not Responsibility of Gage County

By Gordon HopkinsA number of residents of Gage County have been pushing for a three-mile section of a road south of Virginia to be paved. However, according to County Highway Superintendent Mark Kuhnke, that road is not the responsibility of the county.At a meeting of Gage County Supervisors, Kuhnke indicated the entire road adjoining Virginia is annexed into the village by state statute, making it Virginia’s responsibility to hard surface.Gage County Supervisor Don Schuller asked for a copy of the statute. Schuller asked, “This being the case, why was it the village had to request permission from the county to apply dust control or to reduce the speed limit?”County Attorney Roger Harris indicated he will research the and report back his findings to the supervisors.A three-mile section of the road has remained unpaved for 50 years. Nine miles of a 12-mile section of 162nd Road was paved in 1973. A three-mile segment of the section connecting Virginia with Liberty, south of Highway Four, was scheduled to be paved but it was never completed.Residents living in that area have attended multiple meetings of the county supervisors, urging that the remaining portion of the road be completed. Safety was the primary reason given at recent meetings, although some have also complained that the poor condition of the road has lead to damaged vehicles.The county has recorded traffic on the road before and it has been less than 200 vehicles daily in recent years. However, those proposing the road be paved have said the reason the traffic county is so low is that many people avoid the road because it is in such bad condition.After the meeting, Schuller told FJN, “The completion of hard surfacing the remaining three miles of 162nd road near Virginia is a necessity for safety and economic development for the entire east side of the county because this road connects the southeast to the northeast portion of the county. Property taxes in the Virginia area are paid at the same rate as the rest of the county, but it has not received consideration for road upgrades by hard surfacing for 50 years. It is time for this project to be a priority.”

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