If you’ve ever lived in Westlock County, worked for the county, served as a councillor or even attended county meetings on a regular basis, you know that roads never cease being a problem.
The problems are especially bad in a year like 2017, as the constant wet weather keeps the graders and gravel trucks parked. County council spent a good deal of time July 11 discussing the subject of bad roads, with some residents dropping in to complain they hadn’t seen a grader in some time.
But even in a good year, nobody who lives in the county ever seems to see the graders and the gravel trucks as much as they want. Also, when they’re out there, they always do a terrible job.
If only these operators could be made more accountable. Maybe county councillors should be directing the graders on where they should go. Or maybe the county could send gravel where the residents ask for it. That would fix things, right?
No, in fact. That would be an awful idea.
The idea of a ratepayer-determined road maintenance program would be absolute chaos. It’s not hyperbole to say that everyone thinks their local road is of greatest importance and thus should receive the most attention.
Even if the transportation department were just directed by county council, it would be a mess. You’d have divisions feuding over the amount of time staff spent on their roads.
Yes, mistakes are made. But maintaining all 2,200 kilometres of roads in Westlock County is no small task.
“It may appear that the transportation is not performing their work effectively or appropriately,” said director of transportation Al Scott, during the July 11 council meeting. “I can state that is categorically not the case. We take the conditions of the roads very seriously.”
Scott added, “We can’t go out in good conscience and just add gravel to roads based purely on concerns from the public.”
We don’t know precisely what is the solution to the roads issue. Maybe the county should look seriously at re-constructing a certain number of roads each year. Maybe more operators are needed or maybe more public education.
But the solution sure isn’t a ratepayer or councillor-directed road maintenance program. That would be a catastrophe.
