A comprehensive transportation plan was developed to address county-wide roadway and bridge infrastructure needs due to increasing public demands caused by accelerating land development, increases in traffic volumes, and a deteriorating county roadway and bridge system. Gravel roads that once could be easily maintained to serve low traffic volumes, required weekly or biweekly care to provide acceptable service. Rising costs compounded with increasing maintenance needs required larger budgets each year.
The comprehensive transportation plan identified and evaluated the existing roadway and bridge needs of the county’s extensive thoroughfare system of nearly 1,200 miles of roads with 239 bridges and more than 2,850 culverts. The planning process included extensive analyses of the existing thoroughfare system, traffic volumes, traffic accidents, existing maintenance practices, and growth trends. Also, a detailed pavement inventory of 342 miles of major, federal aid eligible county roads was included.
