“ They’re making sure the money is getting properly spent and we’re getting what we are supposed to get. Cook County Highway Engineer David Betts ”
“I had to clear trees to get to work today,” Cook County Highway Engineer David Betts told the county board on Tuesday, October 25, 2010 as the wind howled outside. “We had phone calls to clear trees first thing in the morning. Everybody’s hopping.”
After four months on the job, Betts reviewed with the board his preliminary five-year plan for county roads. His plan is somewhat different from the one submitted by former highway engineer Shae Kosmalski. An October 20 memo to commissioners stated, “These adjustments were made due to funding and timing practicalities, along with our view of project priority.”
State and federal funding is in place for most of the work planned for 2011 and 2012. Work next summer will include about 2½ miles of the Devil Track Lake Road at a cost of $2,480,000; the Junco Creek Bridge at a cost of $423,360; the Otis Creek culvert on County Road (CR)16 at a cost of $375,000; and $27,800 worth of six-inch-wide epoxy road edge striping.
Thenext summer will see almost another mile and a half of the Devil Track Lake Road redone ($2,300,000) as well as 500 feet of the Lutsen Ski Hill Road from Brule Run Bridge to Papa Charlie’s ($385,000) and a hiking/biking trail in Grand Portage. Grand Portage will be contributing $75,000 toward that project, with the rest of the funds—another $300,000—coming from MnDOT Statewide Transportation Improvement Program funds.
Betts’ plans after 2012 are tentative and will be dependent on available funding.
Between 2013 and 2015, the plan is to redo three five-mile sections of the Gunflint Trail from East County Road 92 to the Kekekabic or Magnetic Rock trailhead. Betts said he believes the Gunflint Trail really needs to be done. Portions of it “will rattle your teeth,” he said. “If you go up by Seagull, there’s a sinking road.” Some will need complete reconstruction because of defects that need to be corrected.
The cost of all 15 miles would be $16,562,500, just over a million dollars a mile. About 25% of the cost is designated for engineering, which involves a lot of steps from planning to completion and requires jumping through a lot of hoops, especially when federal dollars are involved. Engineering costs can include initial plans with narratives and drawings, historical and environmental checks, obtaining rights of way, geotechnical studies, surveys to determine things like where runoff will go, and final specifications. During construction, engineering staff must be on-site when gravel is crushed and paving is laid. Theymust test and measure while the work is being done and communicate with the workers. “They’re making sure the money is getting properly spent and we’re getting what we are supposed to get,” said Betts.
Just surveying culverts takes a lot of time. Assessing culverts on the 15-mile section of the Gunflint Trail that will be redone will take up to five months, Betts said.
The five-year plan also calls for the Mineral Center Road to be converted back to gravel in 2013 at a cost of $250,000 to lower the cost of upkeep.
Betts’ plan for Grand Marais is for Fifth Avenue to be redone in 2016 between Highway 61 and County Road 7, potentially with sidewalks added, and for Broadway to be redone in 2020 between Highway 61 and County Road 7.
Betts hopes to see the following culverts and bridges replaced during those years as well: Cross River on CR 46, Junco Creek on CR 27, Sawbill Creek on CR 47, Fredenberg on County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 1, North Flute Reed on CR 70, South Flute Reed on CR 70, Brule Run on CSAH 5,
” and Seagull Creek on CSAH 12. Betts said the Cross River Bridge on County Road 46 “actually has a sag instead of a crown on it.”
“How critical is it to have Oberstar in place?” Commissioner Jim Johnson asked.
“I’d rather avoid political endorsements of any kind,” Betts answered, although he said Congressman Oberstar and Senator Klobuchar both know about the county’s requests for road funding.
The board unanimously passed a motion approving the preliminary five-year plan. The only local levy dollars planned for the projects in the five-year plan are $200,000 for the Sawbill Creek culvert and $25,000 for the Cross River Bridge.
Betts will submit a final plan for the county board’s approval after the first of the year.
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