Dear editor:

In response to the request by Pat Stuart in her column, I have a suggestion for a small part of the $12 million that is coming to Park County. And it will not come as a surprise to our county commissioners as I have made the request to them several times only to be denied.

We have lived on Lane 7 between Roads 10 and 11 for five years and have put up with the dirty, washboard lane ever since. Twice a year I visit with the friendly folks at Park County Public Works and request something be done about the mess that is Lane 7. They eventually send out a grader that scrapes away some of the road base, leaving more dust and dirt exposed. It does nothing to correct the washboard. In a matter of weeks the lane is back to where it was with beet and cattle trucks making their way across the town.

County employees have suggested, for any other improvement, that I run for commissioner.

I have contacted the commissioners via email with my complaints only to be told that the lane and its condition is “normal” for a country road in Park County and meets the “standards” the county has adopted. Pretty low standards if you ask me. All other lanes and roads nearby are substantially better maintained, including chip sealing miles of adjoining roads and lanes just this last summer, bypassing Lane 7.

There are seven residences on the lane and plenty of traffic including a daily school bus, that use the lane to bypass Powell city traffic and for local traffic. It’s time to clean up this mess and it will only take but a very small portion of the $12 million. Libraries are nice but I’d opt for a cleaner, safer Lane 7.

Thom Seliga

Powell