Linn County sees big summer in road project spending

Linn County road projects this summer, at $19.1 million, will total more than twice what the county usually spends in a year and nearly triple last year's road funding.

Brad Ketels, Linn County assistant engineer, said an increase in available funds and scheduled projects this year has created a 'perfect storm” of sorts.

'It just all happened to kind of get snowballed into this year,” Ketels said. 'Everything has been budgeted for, it's just the timing of the projects ...

. We just kind of got hit in '17.”

The county typically spends about $9 million on road construction projects. This year's endeavors include one bridge, 28 miles of asphalt paving and another 12 miles of concrete paving among 17 total projects countywide.

The amount spent on road projects ebbs and flows over the years, Ketels noted. Linn County spent $6.7 million on such projects last year, only $4.8 million in 2015, but $10.4 million in 2014.

He added that several factors play into this busy construction season.

For one, counties can borrow up to three years in advance on annual funds provided by the state for construction and improvements on roads designated as farm-to-market - roads connecting agricultural operations to communities.

Farm-to-market funds alone account for about $6.7 million this summer, Ketels explained.

Linn County also didn't use many local-option sales tax dollars on road projects in 2016, which allows for an additional $2.1 million in carry-over funds available this year. The department receives $3 million annually in LOST funds.

'When we borrow ahead and we have this backlog, it just all comes together as one perfect construction season. We can get an awful lot done, and once that's knocked out there's an awful lot of folks who benefit,” Linn County Engineer Steve Gannon said.

In addition, the county has a few larger projects this year. Most county projects don't go much higher than $1 million. But work taking place on just two projects - Mount Vernon Road and North Center Point Road - accounts for about $9 million in construction projects this summer, Ketels said.

About $1.5 million of the total cost of construction this year will be reimbursed to the county through shared-work agreements with a few local communities, but this summer remains a very busy construction season for Linn County.

On the other hand, a busy 2017 doesn't necessarily mean next year will be light on road projects, Gannon said - but he admitted this summer will be hard to top.

'I don't think we'll do nearly $20 million again for some time,” he said.

Linn County staff carry out administration, design and inspection in-house for all county road projects, which means the county's 17 projects this season - nearly double the typical 10 seen in an average year - has personnel spending more time administering projects.

'We're just definitely busier,” Ketels said.

Linn County Road Projects This Year

Bridges

' Newbold Road bridge replacement project - $476,000

Grading and culverts

' County Home Road grading and culvert replacements - $2.1 million

' Edgewood Road grading and culvert replacements - $505,000

' Mount Vernon Road SE grading, culverts and asphalt paving - $4.5 million

Asphalt overlay projects

' East Main Street, Lisbon - $300,000

' Covington Road - $1.2 million

' Buffalo Ridge Road - $1.2 million

' Squaw Creek Road - $200,000

' Cimarron Drive/Court - $118,000

' Alice Road - $984,000

' Morris Hills Road - $300,000

' East Main Street, Robins - $234,000

' Blairs Ferry Road - $150,000

' Lincoln Heights Road - $85,000

Concrete overlay projects

' Central City Road - $133,000

' North Center Point Road - $4.6 million

' Secrist Road - $1.3 million

' 80th Street SW - $480,000

Source: Linn County Engineering