| By Vic Olson There were no serious complaints about county road and highway problems at last week’s explanation of Hubbard County’s five-year construction plan presented by the county’s highway department headed by David Olsonawski. But there was some lament that the usual lack of funds and increasing construction costs limit the number of projects that can be done. Motorists in this part of the county will benefit from many of the projects, including a new paved route to Hackensack, bridge replacement, overlays southwest of Nevis and a new paved route between Nevis and Akeley The five-year plan is not written in stone due to funding variances and guesses on how much construction and materials will cost in the future, especially oil. For state-aid highways the county receives about $1.1 million for maintenance and $1.65 for construction. For county aid roads the county levies $3 million for maintenance and construction. A ballpark figure to grade a road and surface with aggregate is about $150,000 per mile, while doing a base and using bituminous surface costs up to $200,000 with the price of oil influencing future costs. Spread that over 323 miles of CSAH highways and 198 miles of county roads and improvements are limited. Olsonawski outlined projects planned for the next five years, depending on funding and costs, that included the following for the Nevis-Akeley-Dorset area: •CSAH 19 (and CSAH 40 in Cass County) from State Hwy. 64 east to Hackensack: aggregate surfacing in 2008 and base and bituminous surfacing on six miles in 2009. •CSAH 33 north of Nevis where it crosses the Crow Wing River: replace a box culvert in 2008. •CSAH 7 north of Dorset near CSAH 50: replace the “Chateau Bridge,” straighten curve, build curb and gutter and provide for storm water drainage in 2008. •CAR 112 west of Dorset from CSAH 18 south to CAR 81: grading and aggregate surfacing in 2008 and base and bituminous surfacing in 2009. •CAR 85 between Nevis and Akeley from CSAH 2 to State Hwy. 34: grading and aggregate surfacing in 2009 and base and bituminous surfacing in 2011. •CSAH 11 from the Dorset Corner on State Hwy. 34 south to State Hwy. 87: bituminous overlay in 2009. •CSAH 20 from State Hwy. 34 south to CSAH 17: bituminous overlay in 2009. •CAR 81 from State Hwy. 226 south of Dorset west to CSAH 4: grading and aggregate surfacing in 2012 and base and bituminous surfacing in 2013.
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