BROOKINGS — If you happen to be driving a semi-tractor and trailer — or any similar, large-type cargo truck — the Brookings County Commission really wants you to avoid using 214th Street between Aurora and Brookings.
That’s because traffic from those vehicles is damaging parts of the road, which the county spent hundreds of thousands of dollars improving from a gravel surface to a blotter surface last summer.
“A couple weeks ago, we posted load limits on that stretch,” Commissioner Larry Jensen said. “With the weather as it’s been — warm weather, cold weather, thaw, then it gets cold (again) — there was significant damage that occurred, I believe, before we put the 7-ton per axle load limit signs up.
“Most of the damage is concentrated, about 85% of it, on the eastbound lane,” Jensen continued. “I don’t feel that the 7-ton per axle posting is sufficient. With 7-ton per axle, you could still have a potential of having an almost 100,000-pound truck on that stretch of road.”
Commissioner Kelly VanderWal noted his concerns as well, pointing to 214th Street’s humble past.
Just a few short years ago, this was a township road,” he said. “The county’s taken it over, put a huge investment in that and we had it blotted last summer. We’re just trying to protect that investment. Not trying to get anybody … we just ask residents, truck drivers, whatever, just to stay off that road.”
While the blotter surface has eliminated dust and washboard problems and immensely improved the driving experience for motorists, it is not equivalent to a fully paved road in terms of durability. Combine that with seasonal changes and increasing traffic levels due to population growth in and around Brookings and, well, you see the problem commissioners are grappling with.
Jensen suggested putting up either “no trucks” or “no through trucks” signs as a solution to the problem.
“I know enforcement is an issue — I’ve talked with (State’s Attorney Dan Nelson) on how we could control this,” he said. “We’re not out to get anybody; we just want to get the word out to the community that we just would hope that you could find an alternate route for the next couple months here while the road is going through the thaw process.”
Jensen added, “We’d like to protect our investment out there. I guess my recommendation would be to try to keep as many trucks off there as possible.”
Commissioner Shawn Hostler asked Highway Superintendent Brian Gustad if any repairs have been made.
“With the weather and the lack of products being produced right now, no repairs have been made,” Gustad said. “There are plans this summer when it’s conducive to do that type of repair work … it’s going to take place with our patching project.”
Jensen then showed a photo of the damage — “it’s pretty ripped up out there” — saying that turning the then-gravel road into a blotter road was good. However, Mother Nature and subsequent traffic increases have thrown a wrench into the works, so to speak.
“Unfortunately, we do have some soft spots and some breakups,” Jensen explained. “This year’s been a little bit different type of spring and this is the result of it.”
Solutions debated
Subsequent discussion centered on several items, including:
• The installation of the aforementioned “no trucks” or “no through trucks” signs on that stretch of 214th Street. The county would need to pass a resolution before being able to enforce them, though.
• Nelson inquired into the possibility of including maximum weight limit information on the signs, as it would make it easier for deputies for enforcement purposes.
“There’s a specific Class 2 misdemeanor that would fit within if we just did a maximum weight — rather than doing no trucks at all, it would be better if we did a maximum weight,” Nelson said. “That would be my preference.”
Jensen then pointed out that the sheriff’s office doesn’t have any scales, so it would be difficult to enforce a maximum weight.
“We might have to draft a specific ordinance, then,” Nelson said. “Because the penalty side of the enforceability would be kind of where we don’t have — we have the authority to do it, but we would have to formulate the penalty associated with that. … Right now, we don’t necessarily have that. We have something for weight, but not for no trucks at all.”
• Jensen said he talked to the highway superintendent in Kingsbury County, which is dealing with a similar situation on a county road near Lake Norden.
“They did put some ‘no through trucks’ (signs) on that route, but basically what they’ve done is stop some of those trucks, talk to the truck drivers — and they’ve had good success with just talking to those truck drivers and keeping them off the road,” he said.
• Coordination with the South Dakota Highway Patrol for enforcement purposes, but Sheriff Marty Stanwick said that the agency is “spread thin” at the moment.
• Stanwick spoke to his concerns regarding weight limits. “It’s a whole new ballgame when you have weights. My deputies aren’t trained for weights. … I’d rather see what Commissioner Jensen’s talking about (regarding Kingsbury County). We put up signs and try to educate the public to stay off that.”
He said he could have some deputies in the area to provide warnings as well and that, in the future, the county could invest in digital signs so that there’s portable options for situations like this.
“I don’t want to start weighing trucks. Sorry,” Stanwick said.
“Just put a sign up that says, ‘scale ahead.’ They’ll turn and go another way around,” Commissioner Doug Post joked, bringing some chuckles to the discussion.
• Commissioner Dave Miller talked about providing clarity regarding a policy of no through trucks if it were implemented.
“What’s that mean? Does that mean me with my one-ton truck and Bobcat on there?” he asked. “What’s a truck?”
VanderWal chimed in on that question, too.
“I think sometimes these situations are just communication,” he said. “We talk to a particular construction company or a supplier and they understand that. But they don’t always get that information to employee X, Y and Z. It’s an education thing — we just have to keep getting educated, because new truck drivers, that kind of stuff.”
What’s ahead
The issue will return to the commissioners’ attention in the weeks ahead once county staffers have hammered out proposals that can be acted on.
In the years ahead, the county wants to completely rebuild 214th Street from the Aurora city limits east to 34th Street in Brookings. That, however, will cost millions of dollars and require federal bucks as part of the funding pie, but those dollars have been elusive as of late.
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
Leave a Reply