STEVENSVILLE — It's not very often you hear residents ask a local government to put off making repairs to a local road, but that's exactly what's happening in Ravalli County.
Reaching the end of the repair season, Ravalli County's Road Department was recommending county commissioners approve a plan to do some work on Wildfowl Lane in Stevensville -- the busy road connecting the Eastside Highway with the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge and the Stevensville Golf Course.
The lane handles a few hundred cars per day, and is paved, but barely. The surface is at least 40-years old and full of potholes and cracks, especially after this year's late snows.
But residents asked county commissioners to shelve plans to "mill" the asphalt, leaving the road graveled through the winter months. With hundreds of miles of roads to maintain, the engineer couldn't guarantee when it could be re-paved.
The residents convinced commissioners to hold off, leaving Wildfowl Lane "as is" for now. The board said it would explore other options, including securing grants to pay for a better rebuild.
