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Sunday, April 06, 2014

A Letter To The Editor: Wicomico County Roads

Just wondering if any other residents in Wicomico County have seen the same behavior by the county roads department.

Due to the horrible weather this winter, the county road we have to travel is breaking up with many large holes. These are not just on the shoulder but actually in the middle of the driving area. It makes for a dangerous situation with smaller vehicles and can’t help but cause damage to all vehicles. You can’t see the holes until you on practically on top of them.

Last week, we were pleased to see the county roads here with a pickup, dump truck, and the hot tar cart. Along with the equipment there were several county employees here to “patch” the road. Later in the day when we left home and drove past the area that was in terrible shape, lo and behold, with the exception of one small hole repaired there had not been any work done on either other spot.

Is this kind of behavior by design to “show” the taxpayers the county needs to raise taxes? What was the cost of patching one little hole on the shoulder with all the equipment and man-power that was being used? Certainly more than it should have been!

Are other residents seeing this kind of behavior from the roads department or was this an isolated incident? By the way, someone has placed a sign on the road that says Rough Road. I’m interested in hearing from other taxpayer residents if they have experienced this kind of situation.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two areas on my road were fixed and the rest left undone. I hadn't considered it might be a plan but I certainly wondered why they didn't fix the whole road.

Anonymous said...

Have you called Department in charge? It really does no need to complain unless you have touched base with county/state roads to make sure they are aware. Ask if larger potholes are filled with a differentl grade of patching than small potholes.

Anonymous said...

County roads are a mess. Last Fall, at the intersection of Nanticoke and Crooked Oak, the top layer of asphalt was stripped off on either side of the 2 main traffic lanes on Nanticoke. The assumption at the time was they were prepping the pavement for resurfacing. They never came back and it has been deteriorating all winter, making an already terribly unsafe intersection even worse.

Anonymous said...

They stripped asphalt all the way down Nanticoke Road, 10:01. This is a state road, however. Blame O'Malley for this.

Anonymous said...

the liberals state and county have robbed the roads money to pay for their pension plans... rob peter to pay paul... disgusting. I would cut pensions by 20-40% right away.. then increase to at least 30 years of work before pensions could even be started.. and that is generous by today's standards

And yes it is legal to do so...try suing the state.. but alas the governor would rather bankrupt the state for future generations (you retired people--think about your children, grandchildren and do not be so selfish

Anonymous said...

10:01 & 10:28

My guess is that they needed to "Borrow" the asphalt from Nanticoke road for some repairs needed across the bay.

They figured us "Shorebillies" would never notice.

Anonymous said...

And it appears that the county roads department can go out to the roads to patch and when they don't finish the job the taxpayers are suppose to let their boss know. Give me a break. Get off your lazy arss and take a look for yourself.

Anonymous said...

Put toll booths on the bypass with a large portion staying here in Wicomico for roads. If motorists don't want to pay the toll they will have to drive thru Salisbury. I have to admit when driving north in Delaware I don't blink an eye to pay a dollar to bypass Dover.

Anonymous said...

959
it does no good.
We called about North West road between naylor mill and log cabin.
They told us they were not going to fix it because it would just become a drag strip like log cabin road
they ride around in trucks but don't do anything. We are getting nothing for our county taxes.

Anonymous said...

The supervisors who dictate to the employees what parts of the roads get repaired are responsible.
I see a least 4 men in a truck looking at the sky or talking on cell phones.
Time to shake things up a bit.
Start taking their pictures and truck numbers . Then post them on this blog or facebook.

Anonymous said...

I hope nobody thinks they give a &**^ in that office. It's just a paycheck and they could care less.

Anonymous said...

There are boatloads of poor drivers in Wicomico County.It's as if the county was established to send everyone who wasn't fit to drive anywhwere else.Even the slightest imperfection in the road system would most certainly be too overwhelming for the average Wic Co citizen to cope with.Potholes are no problem for them because they simply plow into them instead of driving around them.AND they will slam into a tree or run in a ditch before hitting a deer.Even a perfect road would have them stymied.And they vote.

Anonymous said...

We do have a rough road ahead , after 5 years of this administration and 3 to go.
It's just going to get worse!

Anonymous said...

10:49 Stop paying them. Demand accountability for where it will go.

Anonymous said...

When you call the County please know who to talk to:
They have directors, Superintendants, Supervisors, Technicians, Workers, Lead Workers, Assistants to the Assistants and 1 king

Anonymous said...

What's yellow has four doors and sleeps four? A Wicomico County roads truck! Seriously they extend the lunch hour occasionally down here on the Westside and if not for me stopping and laying on the horn one day a few weeks ago they may have been overcome by carbon dioxide in that cab with the heat on! It's a known fact they need to get a nap to make it all the way from down here to the County Roads Shop! I stopped complaining when they started the paybacks.

Anonymous said...

We citizens have got to become active. We continually get the same replies. It is the culture in Wicomico County that needs to change. But guess what, until we change those who are of that mindset, nothing will ever change. The change to an executive form of government was a mistake because we elected a bureaucrat with name recognition without term limits. We have got to vote those people out and put in some people who have been accused of being nay sayers. Changes will happen then and they might not all be good changes but this group needs to be relieved of their positions. It can't be much woese.

Anonymous said...

What the heck happened to the stimulus money that was supposed to fix up our infrastructure?

Anonymous said...

Morris Leonard Road in Parsonsburg is terrible! I was pleasantly surprised to see our Honda made it home in one piece and we survived whiplash!

Anonymous said...

They likely quit patching because the color of the patching matetial didn't match the color of the road. This comment sounds stupid but this is an example of how those who work for our government thinks. PEOPLE please get involved and let's make a change. 2014 in the year to do so.

Anonymous said...

12:07 Politicians need new cars, sometimes. Have some compassion!

Anonymous said...

They just robbed the pensions of 700 million to help pay for a light rail project in DC....guess who voted to do this AND take our local roads money too? And just voted himself a big raise? Yup good ol norm. Sure hope someone beats him this year

pitbulldaddy said...

THIS POST WAS MY AREA TOO Melson Road was used as a detour for the RT 54 east/west closure. DELDOT did the work and as a result our poor road took a beating. When I called county roads they put 2 ROUGH ROADS signage up and filled about 5 pot holes. The next day I came home and my husband wanted to know who I pissed off at the county. They graded 8 feet of my yard and that was not cool. After weeks of snow and rain it is now a mosquito breeding roadside ditch. Mr. Outten at county roads told me they are waiting for state funding to see if they can pave what the tore up, and that the Pavers would be mixing the asphalt when it gets warmer. My road is tar and chip. Fix what you did and stop telling everyone your out of money,

Anonymous said...

Pitbulldaddy, I'll see at the polls in November. The ones that we need to vote out don't have challengers in the primary. GET OUT AND VOTE THE BUMS OUT!!!!

Anonymous said...

Patch 1 out of 4 holes in a local area is the new economic plan for road pothole repair.

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to make home made signs and place them where all the potholes are then maybe the country will pay attention or at least everyone will know to slow down.

Anonymous said...

be careful ppl!!!

the king is watchin and taking notes

Anonymous said...

be careful ppl!!!

the king is watchin and taking notes

Anonymous said...

Funny how the local bureaucracy thinks it can do what they want when they decide it should be done..

like Snow Plow Drivers clocking in a whole shift earlier than the storm is supposed to arrive-- then they cash in with overtime that is an entitlement and afterwards there is no rush to correct the damage they do--

when truth be told ...most of the time Mother Nature melts the accumulation before WBOC turns off that ticker--which is just as flawed as the Government --isn't mediocrity grand?

Anonymous said...


When you put up your pothole warning sign just label it

"Pollitt Pond Ahead
Swim At Own Risk"

Anonymous said...

They put up very helpful signs beside Sams club to let you know you are about to lose your molars due to the road. Thank you county roads.

Anonymous said...

Lets take shifts and stand on North Pointe Dr and 13 with a sign asking for donations. I bet we could raise enough money in 1 week and do it ourselves. Heck we could probably pave the whole county if we stay long enough. Hope we don't get chased away by our lifetime street beggars that Salisbury keeps allowing to BEG!

Anonymous said...

The beggars pay, too. You are required to buy a license to beg.

Anonymous said...

The mess along Nanticoke Road has absolutely created extremely dangerous intersections and needs to be fixed or completed, whatever in the world it was done for in the first place. It is outrageous, along with many other potholes, etc. I can not understand why some roads are "repaved" when they don't seem to need it, but others are left untouched. In fact, many of the roads that are repaved are done quite poorly b/c the problems resurface with in a year. This is not normal!