Is It Time To Close Some County Roads?

This is a fact: $2 million doesn't come easy.  Not even to local government.  But that is what Saline County appears to be spending annually on its gravel roads, if the current trend is any indication.  

The Saline County Board of Commissioners, which manages your taxpayer dollars -- primarily derived from property taxes -- provides some serious cash to maintain Saline County's roads and bridges.  At the Dec. 3 Saline County board meeting, the county's five commissioners gave their approval to spend roughly $75,000 on roads and bridges in Saline County. (Nearly $37,000 in gravel alone -- for a two-week period!)  

Keep in mind the commissioners meet every other Tuesday at the Saline County Courthouse (2nd floor beginning at 9:15 a.m.).  

At the Nov. 19 county board meeting, the commissioners OK'd nearly $70,000 on county roads and bridges.

At this pace, Saline County commissioners will have spent nearly $1.9 million on roads and bridges over the course of a full year.

Some of us can recall a time when the county's gravel roads were well traveled -- back when there were farms every quarter-mile or half-mile.  But those days are gone. In 2013, some country roads are lucky to see more than one or two vehicles a day. 

That leads us to this touchy question: Is it time to close some of the county's rural roads -- for the good of the taxpayer? We think the idea should at least be explored if mile-long stretches have no residents.

The mile-by-mile grid pattern of our county's rural roads means residents have multiple routes to take into town and back. If farmers need the roads for access to their fields, those farmers or landowners should be responsible for maintaining the roads, not the general taxpayer.

We'd love to hear our readers thoughts on this issue. Millions of taxpayer bucks are at stake.