The Daily Dispatch

Richland County Engineer Tim Schulte relayed discouraging news to the board of commissioners Monday by saying counties across the state will receive one-third less federal aid for road construction starting in 2011.

Schulte was informed of the cuts in federal funding at a series of meetings in Bismarck the week of Oct. 12.

"This certainly derailed the County Road 4 project we had just put on for 2012," Schulte said. "That's the portion from Colfax going west to [North Dakota] Highway 18."

Schulte said additionally, a separate set of state construction funds will be replaced with safety funds — a disbursement typically connected to projects aimed to make county roads safer. Although the county's funding match will decrease from 20 to 10 percent, the highway department hasn't ever swapped state construction funds for safety funds.

"It's a different pot of money that the Feds give to the states, so much has to trickle down in to the locals. Usually they don't take our regular aid when they give us safety money," Schulte said. "We are trying to get an answer on what's changed."

In other Richland County business:

• Cold and wet weather has slowed down construction work on Richland Road 8 for the last two weeks. Currently, Riley Brothers Construction of Morris, Minn., is concentrating on the intersection at the Brushvale bridge location where they're eradicating the old bridge alignment.

"They have placed the asphalt millings on the roadway at that intersection and are hoping to get the aggregate placed yet this week," Schulte said.

Schulte hopes the crew can lay enough aggregate base so the road will be open for winter traffic. He expects the final three inches of aggregate and the base stabilization chemical to be placed in the spring.

"It's gotta be in there a couple weeks without freezing," Schulte said. "This late in the game it's probably not likely we're not going to get freezing temperatures, at least at night."

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