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Union County officials recommend a detour to avoid one-lane construction on Osage Street at a time when harvest is almost in full swing.
The construction project will begin Monday, forcing Osage to one lane with travel delays expected. The construction will focus on patching Osage from Highway 34 to Adams Street. For tall and wide loads, the county has recommended a detour to safely avoid the construction.
Off of Highway 34, the county recommends vehicles transporting crops to take Commerce Road to Adams Street, instead of Osage, as the county works to repair a frequently-traveled road.
The timing for the project is inopportune, both Roads Superintendent Al Hysell and county supervisors admitted during Wednesday’s board of supervisors meeting.
“It’s crop time; timing’s not great,” Hysell said. “I wanted to do it in May and June, but May and June were pretty wet. Then it went to 100-degree days. We can’t work concrete in that kind of heat... manpower in that heat is not good.”
The one-lane road will be controlled with traffic lights. Local traffic can still pass through Osage if needed.
Supervisor Rick Friday said Osage was deteriorating “quite quickly.”
In other county news...
A funding agreement for an overlay project was approved for county road P27. The agreement allows for Union County to receive financial reimbursement from state funding. Covering 5.3 miles of Hi & Dry Road, Union County will be reimbursed up to $2.75 million or 80% of the project costs through the STBG fund.
Union County Engineer Christian Boehmer expects the project to reach about $5.5 million with hope the costs won’t rise so high. The other half of the funds will come from the county’s farm and market account. These funds come from state and federal aid, not county taxes.
This is an early part of the project. Construction will begin on Hi & Dry Road starting at Ringgold-Union Street and head north 5.3 miles.
Supervisor Dennis Brown was absent from Wednesday’s meeting. Friday as Vice Chair took over proceedings of the meeting.