County Engineer David Betts, Assistant Engineer Sam Muntean, and Maintenance Director Russell Klegstad presented a five-year road construction plan for the county’s roads at the May 14, 2013 county board meeting.
The 2013-2017 Transportation Improvement Plan, which is separate from ongoing road maintenance, calls for rehabbing or reconstructing just over 25 miles of CSAH roads, which will be funded by the state.
In addition to the construction projects, safety improvements will be made on numerous roads, including new centerline and wet-reflective edge striping, upgraded intersection signage, additional signs on road curves, and additional intersection lighting.
Lighting has been suggested for the intersections of Highway 61 and Cramer Road and Highway 61 and the Gunflint Trail, but that is under the jurisdiction of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The plan consists of eight projects at a total estimated cost of $11,261,000.
Twelve bridges need to be replaced, according to Engineer Betts, although funding has not been secured for them yet.
Betts has identified $18,900,000 worth of other construction projects that need to be done but do not have funding at this time. He said some roads that only get 10 cars a day need improvements, but it’s hard to justify spending money on them when other roads that get hundreds of cars a day also need work. Regarding the backlog of work, he said, “It’s pretty depressing” and added that he wished he could do more for the county’s roads.
Betts recommended investing in specialists to employ a Pavement Management System, which would involve a scientific analysis of the county’s roads that could be used to prioritize road projects. Assistant Engineer Muntean said they would then have “hard and fast” numbers to make decisions by.
Here are the planned improvements for each of the next five years:
. 2013: 5.9 miles of the Old Highway (CSAH 7) from CSAH 6 to Highway 61. . 2014: 1) 4.67 miles of the Gunflint Trail (CSAH 12) from east of Red Fox Ridge Road to west of Forest Service Road 1347. 2) Safety improvement projects on the Gunflint Trail, Devil Track Road (CSAH 8), Old Highway 61 in Grand Portage (CSAH 17), Caribou Trail (CSAH 4), Lutsen Ski Hill Road (CSAH 5), and the Sawbill Trail (CSAH 2). . 2015: 1) 3.79 miles of the Gunflint Trail from County Road 92 to Red Fox Ridge Road. 2) 6 miles of the Sawbill Trail from Carlton Peak Road to near Pancore Road. 3) Intersection lighting at County State Aid Roads 8 and 12, 7 and 45, and 6 and 7 plus signage throughout the county. . 2016: 2.35 miles of the Sawbill Trail from near Pancore Road to Honeymoon Trail. (If funding can be obtained for this early enough, it will be done in 2015.) . 2017: 2.5 miles of the Old Highway (7) from the Old Gunflint Trail (West 5th Avenue/County Road 15) to CSAH 6.
In the Transportation Improvement Plan, Betts stated that grading the Sawbill Trail has become unmanageable. “Traffic volumes have increased from 170 vehicles per day to 500 vehicles per day since 1990,” he wrote, “as has the speed of vehicles traveling the roadway. As a result, it has become almost impossible to maintain the gravel roadway without significant washboarding.”
In the plan, Betts explained the status of Gunflint Trail improvements that had been put off because of a determination in a federal review that it was considered a cultural resource of historical value. “This cultural resources review, which is required for federal permits, states that CSAH 12 is a ‘historically significant roadway’ and that the width, horizontal alignment and vertical alignment should not be revised. Because of the use of CSAH funds for complete reconstruction requires the revision of the roadway width and alignment to current standards, we are unable to obtain a federal permit for reconstruction.”
Rather than complete reconstruction, the work will consist of bituminous replacement of the road surface, adding shoulders as wide as possible, repairing subgrade issues and replacing some culverts. Improvements to the lower end of the Gunflint Trail will be geared toward improving safety for bicyclists.
The 2013-2017 Transportation Improvement Plan is available in the Cook County Auditor’s Office and at the Highway Department.
Maintenance
Engineer Betts reported that the department had a little bit of salt/ sand left over after this year’s long winter.
The Maintenance Department has about 155,000 gallons of calcium chloride for use on the county’s gravel roads this summer. The department has $150,000 to spend on calcium chloride each year. It used to have $200,000 a year and then that was decreased to $90,000 for a while.
Betts said they try to apply calcium chloride to new gravel the first year it is laid because it acts as a protectant. They put down a swath 12-20 feet wide. It helps keep dust down and prevents washboarding, but it tends to produce potholes.
Maintenance Director Russell Klegstad said they apply it to roads every other year. It has some retention value from one year to the next, but they would apply more if they could afford it.
Surplus military equipment
The United States military has used surplus equipment it has given to individual states including Minnesota, which is offering the equipment to local government units. Other states and government units will be competing for the equipment. The state offers the equipment for an administrative fee of 5-10 percent of the original purchase price of the equipment and the cost of shipping.
The board authorized the Highway Department to request numerous items in good shape at a total cost of up to $9,425. One is a roller compactor originally valued at about $86,000. The department currently rents rollers 3-4 months per year at a cost of $4,500 per month.
Also being requested are two utility transport vehicles (similar to ATVs) and one all-terrain vehicle (ATV). They would be used by the engineering staff for surveying and staking projects and by the maintenance staff for numerous tasks.
Generator lights with generators are also being requested. A May 9 memo from Engineer Betts to the county board states, “We have a need for these when we are working on emergency call-outs for culverts and trees. Currently we work in the headlights of vehicles and this can get to be very dangerous.
“Additionally, the generator would be useful when we are running pumps overnight or over the weekend. The generator can run 60 hours on one tank of fuel. This would save maintenance personnel overtime costs to refuel our smaller generator during overnight conditions.”
Facility improvement study
Jeff Oertel of Oertel Architects presented the results of his study of Highway Department facilities and his ideas on options for improvement.
He presented four options – Option A would use as much of the existing facilities as possible, Options B and C would make more significant changes but maintain use of the Goble Building, and Option D, according to Oertel, “would basically clear the whole site and more or less start over with all new construction.”
Oertel said space is a problem at the county garage site. Currently, fumes accumulate in the main building. He said the Goble Building is not in bad condition and considered keeping it “a gray area.”
Maintenance Director Klegstad said that the cold storage building is in such bad shape that he wouldn’t be surprised to find it collapsed on top of the equipment one day.
The costs ranged from $5.15 million for Option A to $7.65 million for Option D plus $1.34 million to replace the satellite buildings in Tofte and Hovland, which Oertel said are in worse condition than the main building in Grand Marais. He recommended concrete buildings that would last 50-100 years rather than metal buildings. Replacing the facilities could be done in phases.
Option D would create the most efficiency, with a pull-through garage and the most energy efficiency. Engineer Betts said his department currently pays $50,000 a year for heat and electricity.
Commissioner Sue Hakes recommended combining facilities with the city of Grand Marais, but Oertel said space on the current site is quite limited. Offices could be put on a second floor, however, he said.
Highway Engineer Betts said he has discussed this with City Administrator Mike Roth, who agreed with him that “our site’s not big enough to house both of us.”
Maintenance Director Russell Klegstad said having two sets of staff with different unions sharing space could be difficult. Oertel said he has seen counties in which facilities are shared, and they have had various rates of success.
“I’m not convinced that it couldn’t work,” said Hakes.
“I’m seeing issues,” Betts said, adding, “you’re never going to be able to borrow money cheaper than you are now.”
Pike Lake Road
Some residents in the Pike Lake Road area are having trouble navigating the road in its late spring condition. The Maintenance Department will be laying gravel down on the road this summer.
Betts and Klegstad advised drivers to avoid the frost heaves as much as possible.
Facts about Cook County’s roads:
. The Cook County Highway Department is responsible for approximately 179 miles of County State Aid Highways (CSAHs) and 117 miles of county roads.
. The CSAH system is approximately 62 percent paved (110 miles) and 38 percent (69 miles) gravel.
. The state defines an official bridge as any elevated bridge structure or culvert that spans more than 10 feet. The county owns 58 bridges. Forty are culverts and 17 are elevated bridge structures.
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