The Daviess County Highway Department has received complaints about heavy trucks coming off I-69 and using county Road 550 East by North Daviess High School to reach Elnora. Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius told the County Commissioners on Tuesday that the traffic on 550 E is being used by 920 vehicles per day, with 15% of those being heavy trucks. This is basically the same count as the vehicles using SR 58 into Elnora. Cornelius said most of the traffic is coming off I-69. The Commissioners discussed imposing a weight limit on 550 E, but noted that would also apply to semis driven by farmers in the area. Several other options were also discussed but nothing was decided. The Highway Department will continue to monitor the situation.
Also at this week’s meeting, David Gotman of the Loughmiller Group presented a proposed program to optimize the maintenance of the county’s paved roads. Gotman told the Commissioners that each dollar spent on preventative maintenance could save 8 dollars for rehabilitation work, or 20 dollars to rebuild a section of road. Gotman noted that the county’s roads are now carrying much larger trucks and farm machinery than they were designed to carry. County Highway Superintendent Phil Cornelius said that Daviess County is a growing community, and that calls for more planning. The Council agreed to establish a work group to look at the proposal.