News: Clark Co. - Spring Road Breakup (22 Mar 1962)

Contact: Dolores

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Hemp, Ackerman, Zank

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) March 22, 1962

Spring Road Breakup (22 March 1962)

Town roads throughout Clark County were reported breaking up earlier this week as warm days and nights turned the surfaces into quagmires.

County and state highways however, continued in good condition, according to Marvin Hemp, assistant county highway commissioner.

Town officials this year are anticipating a spring breakup of at least normal proportions - and perhaps worse. Last weekend Arthur Ackerman, chairman of the Town of Pine Valley, said that there were some spots in roads in that town on which cars were "dragging their bottoms."

Arthur Zank, a Neillsville school bus driver, said town roads along his route were "soupy", and expressed the belief that the roads would be troublesome even for these heavy units with more moderate weather.

Hemp said that highway officials are looking for "normal" spring conditions on the town and state trunks this year.  Warm nights, with temperatures above freezing, will make them worse than they would be if freezing conditions were to exist during the breakup period.

Some improvement is anticipated on a two mile stretch of County Trunk H, extending westward from its junction with County Trunk Y, north of Chili. A new bridge has been installed and the roadway has been raised to secure improved drainage.

However, the stretch between Highway 73 at Christie and County Trunk K, between Granton and Loyal, is expected to break up about as it did last year, when the road was impossible, if not completely impassable.

Other county trunk roads are expected to experience a normal break up this year, Hemp said.

The most trouble is anticipated on town roads where the snow has impacted on the roadway, and the snow banks have not been pushed back far enough to permit drainage of water into the ditches.

In an effort to prevent any worse breakup than necessary, most townships of the county have invoked a 8,000-pound load limit.  On county highways the weight restrictions are 6 tons for one axle, and 10 tons for two or more axles more than eight feet apart.