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/o - C9- Dal 2002-2736
July 26, 2002
To: County Commissioner Jerke
915 10th Street
Greeley, CO 80632
From: Joanie Taggart
307 Laramie
Grover, CO 80729
RE: Including Partial Paving of WCR 390
into current Budget Hearings
Dear Commissioner Jerke,
Hopefully you have received and read the emails I have sent to you regarding
how the Weld County taxpayers who live in Grover want our County to do, at the
least, a partial paving to WCR 390. We do understand that paving this road
beginning at its intersection off of Colorado State Highway 14, to the town of
Hereford, Colorado, would be a major and costly project, and may be too much for
us to ask for at this time. However, because of the ever present driving hazards,
(as I have described in my emails to you), and where there is the most sand, sand
pits, and damage that has occurred from semi-truck use, and where Grover's daily
and consistent looming dust clouds originate from, we do feel that paving the 8 mile
stretch of WCR 390 between the two towns of Grover and Hereford, Colorado,
should definitely be done, and put into the County's budget, and plans, for one of
next year's projects.
I don't know if you are aware of the fact that I, along with much incentive from
other Grover residents, have been in contact with any and every agency, politician,
and department that I thought could possibly help us in convincing our County that
this road is in dire need of paving due to all the breathing problems some are
having, road conditions that make for the possibility of serious or fatal car accidents
anytime the road is traveled, and the years and years of we here in Grover having
to be subjected to this, when all of these problems could be done away with if the
County would at least pave this 8 miles that affects us the most. In contacting a
State agency, I found out through them that now is when you County
Commissioners are planning the budget for the next fiscal year. Had I known this
earlier, you would have received a letter from me requesting this to be included in
these hearings, and into this budget, much earlier than now. Because this is a
major issue to we taxpayers here in Grover, we are telling you now that we would
like for you to do this for us during this budget-planning period.
I will be calling your clerk to find out when these budget hearings take place, and if
necessary will attend them with signatures from others here, to push this issue as
of needing to be that of high priority to the County, and of it being of major
importance for the good health and well being of any one who drives on this road,
or lives near it. Should I not be needed or allowed to attend these meetings, I will
acquire minutes so we here will know how much attention our elected County
Commissioners have shown regarding this issue and their concern, for the Weld
County citizens in this part of the County.
To be bringing just one factor to your attention again, regarding a reason for our
County to do this roadwork to WCR 390 in the near future is that Phil Brewer from
the Weld County Health Department brought to my attention that when a vehicle
count was last done here, it showed a usage count of 180. I do know that the State
required number is 200, but because of the extreme problems WCR 390 is
presenting, I would think in this situation, a count of 180 would prove not only how
much this road is used, but also that it would be close enough to warrant a County
project such as this, to be done on it.
Along with this letter, I am including a letter/statement regarding the issues and
conditions, (facts), about WCR 390 that have prompted we living here in Grover to
finally insist that our County begin following protocol to ensure the future plans of
paving at least, this section of the road that is doing us the most harm, and also to
refresh your memory of how poor this road really is.
I hope you will agree that this matter does need to be added to the current
budget hearing plans, and do that for us as soon as possible. I will be
communicating with you again soon regarding this, and any assistance and concern
you show towards this issue will be very much appreciated by all of us here in
Grover, Colorado. Thank you again, for your time.
Sincerely,
(es-fl C.I.N_J t
Joanie Taggart
FACTS REGARDING WELD COUNTY ROAD 390 IN
NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY
* Weld County Maintainers are not capable of maintaining the road so it will
provide reasonably safe driving conditions
* At all times, extreme amounts of gravel, and gravel and sand that is piled
up by the Maintainers, can be found on this road along the sides/in the area
designated for driving, causing a constant pulling to occur with vehicles being
driven
* Maintainers, at the time they are working on this road, (and can be found after
their daily work is completed), will drag rocks, huge dirt clods, nails, and all
types of debris, out from the barrow pit, and onto the road, and will leave it
Lying there so that when a vehicle is using this road, the driver must either
have to straddle this stuff with the vehicle, or if encountering oncoming traffic,
must drive directly in it. This presents driving conditions that cause great
difficulty in maintaining control of the vehicle, and does cause damage to
tires and vehicles
* Sand pits that have formed from excessive gravel and semi-truck use, can be
found all along this road. If these pits are not approached with caution, (a
great reduction in speed, driving through after oncoming traffic has passed),
they will cause a vehicle to become either somewhat, or totally, out of control
* (MOST DANGEROUS CONDITION) Whenever anyone who is not driving a semi
on this road, encounters an oncoming vehicle, (any vehicle that is traveling at
the posted speed of 55, but extremely worse, should it be a semi-truck),
because of the dust this road produces, visibility for the non-semi-driver
becomes severely hampered, and regaining needed visibility, does not occur
until the dust diminishes. Visibility becomes ZERO for any such driver when
the usual convoys of semi-trucks are encountered, with not being able to see
what is ahead of them, or behind them, and I'm sure hampers the vision of
the oncoming truck drivers also.
* (MOST THREATENING CONDITION) Whenever any vehicle uses this road,
(with semi-trucks being extremely worse), a trail of dust can be seen for
as far as the eye can see, and from even miles away from this road. And
this dust will linger for long periods of time, and usually never diminishes
totally, before the next vehicle using the road will produce the same effect.
this causes the Town of Grover to daily, and on a somewhat consistent
basis, to have over it, looming clouds of dust. This is polluting our air and
is causing those who are diagnosed with breathing related ailments to show
more severe of symptoms, the dustier the air should become here
THESE CONDITIONS STATED HERE DO EXIST IN THEIR MOST SEVERE FORMS ON
THE 8 MILE STRETCH OF WCR 390 BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF
GROVER AND HEREFORD, COLORADO
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September 9, 2002
2P32 SEE�PP- 1 P? 9. 30
To: Weld Count�CokMhiiio rr Long
915 10th Street
Greeley, CO 80632
Prom: Joanie Taggart
307 Laramie
Grover, CO 80729
RE: 2003 Partial Paving to WCR 390
Dear Commissioner Long,
I know you have told me that all of you Commissioners know what kind of condition
our WCR 390 is in. However, what people who don't use this road all the time know,
and as I told you on the phone, this road, from hour to hour, from day to day, is
always changing in It's poor condition. It depends on how the Maintainer does, (which
person is doing it too), how many trucks use it, how much gravel and rock is on it,
rain/mud/snow, and if there is a frequent occurrence of vehicles coming from both
directions at the same time, (this would make the edges of the road change).
I took these pictures on September 2, 2002. You'll see how the edges are
terribly washed out. Now we did have a really hard rain on August 29O however, the
sides of this road are always either soft, have huge piles of sand left along them just
to the side of these washed out spots, (with all the rocks and debris that goes into
that), and there are always spots that have these washed out gullies._., they may not
all be as big as some of these in the pictures at all times, but if a heavy vehicle gets
over too far to the right, they will be knocked out from that too. And notice the
rocks on this road. If you get the picture with the rather large looking ones, to we
out here, that's a "medium" sized rock. This too is something that varies from hour
to hour, day to day. Just depends on if a semi's tire tracks edges them up, or if the
Maintainer pulls them up. There are descriptions on the back of the pictures also.
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When you look at these pictures, just imagine having to use this awful road all the
time.... wondering if you'll get a cracked windshield, a possible hole in the oil pan, flat
tire, or just have anxiety attacks from the fear of not being able to see well enough
from the dust a truck has blinded you by, and when getting over to the right enough
to be safe, having your vehicle slide, (or roll), off into the barrow pit because the
edge might give out on you/you couldn't control the vehicle enough, soon enough. Hey,
it happens to usl Too, (if you get a picture of this, if not, another Commissioner has),
when I was doing this_..
I wanted the van to be in the picture so you could see that there are several spots
on this road that are either just barely wide enough for two regular sized vehicles,
and one spot where there definitely is only room for one. Also, even if driving down
the middle of the road, (and if I hadn't run out of film I'd be sending pictures of
this), there too, are sand pits, rutty spots, and loads of rock/gravel/hellacious semi
tire tracks.
Should you make it to Grover for the forum, it will be appreciated. We are
anticipating this, and if I find out soon enough of when that will be, I'm sure there
will be those who will turn out for it. When you do come out, one way to verify my
'hour to hour thing' up there, (and how crappy this road is).... go to Hereford when
coming here on WCR 77, then use WCR 390 to come into Grover, and then when going
home, (and I know it would be very inconvenient, but it Is for us too when WCR 390 is
muddy, or whatever makes it even more miserable than usual, and we have to use the
highway to go north from here, or south for Hereford people), and then when our
forum is over, go back to Hereford on WCR 390. to go home. I really do wish you
would at least use this road, the whole 8 miles of it, at least once when you do come
out here. (but assuming you'll be the lucky one that will use the southern part of WCR
390 to go home to New Raymer, that too, will give you somewhat of an idea of what
the 8 miles is like ...there are just as bad as places throughout the entire stretch of
road as what you'll encounter constantly on the 8 miles). I'm sure if you would travel
the 8 miles when you come here, or any time, not only would you get to see that I
haven't been exaggerating about this rotten road, and that too, would make your
decision to postpone work elsewhere for 2003 to do WCR 390, not an illogical idea,
but necessary because of its extreme conditions, and for our safety. And too, the
longer this work would take to happen, the harder the paving Job would be. because
each year, it falls apart more.
Thank you for your time, and hope to see you soonl
Sincerely,
Cat an.a_ �
Joanie Taggart
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Example of tracks on the left hand side of
the picture
Example of how much dirt/gravel/rock is
on the road
Example of"edge pile"... on the right...for
2 oncoming cars here,the one on the right,if not
driving within this edge pile would be going to and
fro between the edge pile and that damaged,rocky,
excess dirt on the far right side,(of the right hand
side of the picture). On the left hand side of the picture,
you'll see a large rock sitting to the edge of that edge's
pile...... Whatever vehicle on the left hand side of the
picture would be driving on his right hand side of the
road,would hit that rock.
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When the Maintainer works on this pert,the
pile of sand that he'll leave will be along side,
to the left of the damaged part.
If 2 on-coming vehicles were in this spot,one
or both would be in this pile of dirt,or
on top of this damaged part... (When driving
through the pile of dirt,that does cause
a pulling to the vehicle. There would be
another pile of dirt on the other side of the
mad too,making the road even narrower),
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Example of road damagc on the left side of the picture.
Now when the Maintainer gets done on this place in the
road....his"edge pile"will be right along the edge of
that left hand side of the picture's road damage,and as
you might be able to tell,2 oncoming cars would barely
have enough room to fit through there safely. If it were
2 semis at the same time,the one on the left hand side
of the picture will be not only be aiding in making it look exactly like
this again, (and it will look like this again after a day's worth
of semi's hitting this edge pile),but whatever kind of vehicle
it is,will be driving over onto the damaged soft part. Here
too on the far left hand side of the left side of the picture,are
good examples of big rocks and dirt clods.
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Look at the tire tracks on this one. Now 2 oncoming
vehicles are not going to both fit onto the most decent
part of the road. The one on the left hand side of the
picture will be driving on the pile of edge dirt, (see
the tire tracks in it). You can see tire tracks in it too
up in about the left-center part of the picture. The
vehicle that went through there has knocked out the
rocks and dirt clods you see lying there. (Same
further up the road too).
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Example of rocks.
You can see the tracks on the right band side of the
picture..... the ones you can see furthest to the right...
this guy was driving on the soft sandy edge. Where
the tracks are up a ways on the right hand side of the
picture,(the rough looking part),this is a sand pit
on any day.but now it's loaded with rocks,but you
can kind of see how it does take up a good part of
the road. Look at the tracks of the vehicle that
was driving on the left hand side of the picture....
This guy looks as though he avoided that washed
out par that extends inward past the edge pile,but
once getting over to his right as much as possible,
will be driving into large rocks,the edge's pile,and other washed
out part.
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An example of
all the rocks.
semi tracks
rock/sand piled on the sides
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For the driver on the right hand side of the picture,if he had
to get over to the right for oncoming traffic, his right side tires
wvuld be hitting/going through these gullies.
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This is an example of how on some parts of this road,its
edge, (even if the Maintainer has an edge pile freshly
sitting there,is straight down,(not tapered down). If
you hit the gullies on this part,not only will it make them
larger in size,you're more than likely"go'n down".
Notice on the right hand side of the picture,where the
largest washed out part is.... there's an extended part
that,as you can tell,has to be driven through by
anyone who had to get over to the right,(see the tracks?)
Also at this same place as just telling about....this is one
of our smaller sand pits,and it is always there.
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Example of semi tracks node
Maybe you can tell here by where the van is
sitting that 2 oncoming cars would fit through here without
either having to get into the edge's pile,but it
would be CLOSE. And if it were 2 semi's,the
one that would be driving on the right hand side of the
picture,would be in those ruts,and when it did this,these
ruts would become wider and longer.
Hello