County Roads

Okay, okay, so it has been almost a month since I last posted to my blog. Things have been bit hectic not only in the courthouse, but in the personal life as well. Sometimes it is hard for some folks to realize that elected officials, especially at the local level, are people too.

For those of you that have been keeping up with local happenings through the media you know that one of the recent "issues" for county government has been roads. I have owned property in Milam County since 1969 and while living here off and on since 1969, my family has permanently resided in Milam County since August of 1979.

One of the reasons I decided to locate my family and raise my children here was the people of Milam County. The rural area provides, in my opinion, a much better environment for raising kids. Both of my sons graduated from Yoe High and both grew up on a gravel road.

There were a couple of individuals in court last week complaining about County Road 250. It has been my practice to personally go out and drive the roads that the court receives public comment on just to see what some people think is a "bad road." I drove the entire length of CR 250 and CR 250 Loop on Saturday April 17th.

One individual was complaining about the horrendous condition of the road. I will admit that the Commissioner is in the process of getting the road in shape for seal coating so there is some inconvenience with the oil on the road, but overall I found the road in very good shape. I managed speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour with no problems. Plenty fast for a gravel road.

Another individual was attempting to blame the condition of the road for an accident one of his family members had. The accident led to the family member receiving a ticket for failure to control speed. If I remember correctly every thing I have ever learned about driving includes the principle that you adjust your speed according to the road conditions.

Their bottom line was that something needed to be down about the road and that it should be done today. I attempted to explain to them that the Judge had no authority to tell or force another elected official to do anything (that is a whole other column), but they did not buy it. Some times the truth is hard for some folks to take.

As a landowner for over 40 years and full time resident for almost 31 years I can attest that the county roads are much improved over what they have been in the past. They are wider, and better maintained today. Granted they are not all paved, but part of country life is the roads, and in Milam County the majority of the roads are gravel.

Progress is being realized with the condition of roads in Milam County. Progress will continue to occur. The reality is that Rome was not built in a day, and 780 plus miles of gravel roads in Milam County will not change over night. As for me and my family that's just fine.