The Starke County Commissioners will open bids this morning for work on three bridges and award at least one contract so work can begin immediately. A previously announced timeline for the emergency repair of the bridge over the Yellow River on County Road 700 East calls for construction to start tomorrow and conclude on Aug. 15. The road has been closed since a tree floating down the river struck the bridge supports this spring. The commissioners will also open bids for the replacement of the bridges on 900 south just west of 100 West over Bogus Run and on 800 East over Eagle Creek, just north of 50 South. No timeline was given for those repairs. Continue reading
Timeline Announced for Emergency Bridge Repair
Starke County Road 700 East north of State Road 8 should be open again to traffic by mid-August. That’s the time frame outlined by Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler. He presented plans for what he calls a “pretty straightforward fix” to the bridge damaged earlier this year by a tree floating down the river that struck the supports. Continue reading
Starke County Highway Department Releases Road Maintenance List
The Starke County Highway Department will be busy throughout the summer making improvements to 145 miles of county roads. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler says the projects are based on the PASER, or Pavement, Surface, Evaluation and Rating, system and average daily traffic.
“All of the townships are well-represented on the list,” Ritzler told the county commissioners. “The San Pierre area now has the most roads. Most of the roads we added we’re adding in that area because they had the lowest PASER ratings and were a little under-represented on the previous list, and now we’ve put those on there. We’re probably going to chip-seal all of the roads in town and probably a couple of the roads out west of there.” Continue reading
No Immediate Opening Date for 700 East Bridge in Starke County
The bridge on 700 East north of State Road 8 may be closed longer than originally thought, according to Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler.
The emergency design for the bridge that was damaged by a tree in the river is coming along. There is a slight hiccup in the process as permits are needed to make further repairs on the bridge and the approval of those permits could take some time. Ritzler explained that the bridge was damaged much more than once the area was surveyed a little closer. Three pillars and a spreading beam need to be replaced along with the removal of some asphalt on the bridge.
Starke County Officials Appoint Committee to Study Wheel Tax
Starke County Council members want more information about proposed wheel tax rates, types of vehicles that would be taxed and how any funds generated would be used for road improvements before making any decision about implementing such a tax. County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler will chair a committee comprised of council members Marvin McLaughlin, Freddie Baker and Bob Sims and Commissioner Kathy Norem. After they discuss the details, a public input meeting will be scheduled to further explain the process. Ritzler has streamlined the highway department’s operations since taking over but says efficiency can only go so far. “Our limiting factor is the oil and stone that we use to improve roads. We have a certain amount of funding sources, we used them all. The only way of increasing is a user tax that is available to us, a user fee. 47 of the 92 counties in Indiana have it. Of the counties that don’t have it, many have an additional source of funding that’s not available to us, and that’s riverboat gambling money. We are in the bottom fifth of road conditions in the state,” Ritzler told the council. Continue reading
Starke County Highway Department Prepares for Bridge Replacement
The cost of plowing snow during the worst winter in nearly 40 years forced the Starke County Highway Department to dramatically scale back its road maintenance budget. However, Superintendent Rik Ritzler says they’re still moving forward with scheduled bridge replacements.
“The bridge replacement plan was not affected by winter operations,” Ritzler told the commissioners during their most recent meeting. “We have enough money in the CEDIT account both presently and budgeted if that’s not touched. If that’s touched, it will be jeopardized.”
Starke County Commissioners Bless Wheel Tax Exploration
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler has the blessing of the county commissioners to look into other sources of funds for road improvements.
He told them last week the county does not presently qualify for a lot of money available from the state because there’s no roadway user tax in place and said he would like to talk to the council about the costs and benefits of a wheel tax at various levels. Ritzler says counties that collect a wheel tax have some of the best roads in the state because all of the money that is collected is used to maintain and improve them.
Winter Expenses Force County to Slash Road Repair Budget
The harshest winter in nearly four decades is putting a squeeze on the Starke County Highway Department’s road repair budget. Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners his drivers spent 94 days plowing more than 150,000 miles. They also logged 35,000 more miles in support roles. “We used over 44,500 gallons of diesel and a lot of gasoline,” Ritzler said. “We did not run out of salt or sand, as many local agencies did. As a result, we did not have to pay the premium prices for added material. Our salt cost was $48 per ton throughout the winter. The counties that had to get extra had to get it for over $200 a ton, so we were lucky there.”
Ritzler says the Starke County Highway Department will be able to absorb the overtime and fuel costs in the existing budget. “We did have a cushion built in. Unfortunately the pillow is now gone. We have no extra money. We were hoping to use that extra money to add to the road improvement program and to make that where we could improve the roads. We’re not going to be able to do that now without added funds. That’s the greatest effect. It’s going to affect our road program a little bit. We’ll still be able to stay at a maintaining level that we did last year, but we won’t be able to get to an improvement level,” Ritzler said.
The initial 2014 road improvement recommendation list contained 191 miles of improvements at a cost of nearly $1.4 million. A combination of state-mandated budget cuts and winter snow removal costs slashed that to 138 miles of improvements at a cost of $750,000. Ritzler says some of the major improvements were also downgraded due to a lack of money.
Starke County Highway Department Remains Busy
The Starke County Highway Department continues to stay busy with plowing efforts, as Superintendent Rik Ritzler yesterday morning told the commissioners that his department spent most of the month of February plowing, with 17 days of the month spent clearing roads. He said five of the days were spent hauling material, with the other days used for general maintenance.
Over the past two months, Ritzler said, the county has plowed nearly 100,000 miles, building a total cost of $561,000. Fortunately, he said they did spend less in February – but that may just have been because the month was shorter, Ritzler explained. Continue reading
Starke County Chip Seal Work Complete; 46 Miles Treated
With INDOT spuriously rushing to get state highways repaired throughout the state as they seemingly announce road closures on a daily basis, many area residents are left wondering when county roads will get some attention. For Starke County, roughly 45 miles of road have already been chip sealed and the process finished today, according to Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler, while Pulaski County is just getting started on their chip sealing process.
Starke County Highway Dept. to Begin Mowing Monday
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler has announced that the highway department will begin mowing county rights-of-way on Monday, May 20, and will continue through the summer. He said it is important to remember that for safety reasons, workers will be mowing up to five feet from the county right-of-way, and at each intersection, they will mow 50 feet in each direction and back 10 feet. He said most items have been cleared from the rights-of-way, but any items that are still in the mowing path will be dealt with on an individual basis.
Bridge 70 Closed in Starke County; Travelers Be Advised
Travelers on County Road 50 East near 500 South in Starke County are strongly advised to find a new route, as County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler announced yesterday that the county has closed Bridge 70 due to safety reasons. Ritzler explained the bridge was scheduled to be replaced next year but because of the unexpectedly high rate of deterioration, he said it was necessary to close the bridge to prevent an accident.
