Swan Mountain Road needs serious TLC.
“It is our most important highway,” Summit Road and Bridge Director Robert Jacobs told county commissioners today. “It is county road No. 1 and it is in one of the worst shape of all the roads in the county.”
But the cost to rebuild just one mile of road?
$3 million.
Road and bridge needs $6 million to complete two miles of critical rebuild on Swan Mountain next summer. That is nearly all of the department’s entire construction budget.
County commissioners were shocked by the request, but not scared off by it.
“We have to move forward with it,” commissioner Nina Waters says. “In the meantime, everyone in this room, let’s start racking our brains on how we’re going to pay for this.”
Commissioner Eric Mamula agrees, saying road repair and maintenance should be a top priority for county government.
Rebuilding Swan Mountain was scheduled to begin this summer, but the county did not win a state road grant worth more than half the cost.
The county can reapply for the grant again next year.