Newell asks for patience

Courtesy, The Wiregrass Farmer

Turner County’s dirt roads are in bad shape in places, something the Road Department is working on as fast as it can.

Road Superintendent JB Newell asked people be patient as his department is working as fast as it can.

Unusually heavy rains in late winter and this spring have created unusually bad road conditions on Turner County’s dirt roads.

“We ask that everyone just bear with us. We’re running all the crews and we’re moving as much dirt as we can,” he said. “We have been working overtime, 10 hour days, to help get past this.”

April is the 4th wettest April since weather records started being kept.

“That’s a big part of our problem. We just can’t go in and work on a road immediately after it rains. We’ve got to let it dry out just a bit. Otherwise, our work can make things worse,” Mr. Newell said.

He also pointed out 2013 had the 3rd most rain on record since weather reports started being kept.

“Dirt roads are hard to maintain anyway. When rain comes in on top of rain, dirt roads are going to suffer,” he said. “We’ve just had two bad years of weather. We’re doing the best we can.”

There are 272 miles of dirt roads in Turner County and 163 paved miles. The Road Department employs 12 people full time and 2 part-time.