District 3:  Road and Bridge Report

Don Hawthorne, County Commissioner

The summer type rains continued into October which caused delays in our regularly scheduled projects. We have spent a lot of man hours repairing roads and clearing debris out of bridges and tinhorns, and that continued into December. Once the rains stopped though, it has become extremely dry and fire danger is very real.

The bridge on Airport Road, just south of Cache Road, has been approved and a bid has been awarded by ODOT. The construction will begin in February. The bad news is the bridge did not pass the last inspection and, in order not to close the road for 5 or 6 months, we will put in a temporary tinhorn so the road can remain open until construction starts on the new bridge. We did not want to have to spend District 3 funds for this extra step, but with all of the delays we have had on this project, we really had no other choice.

All the preliminary work for the bridge to replace the low-water crossing on Bishop Road over Post Oak Creek has been completed. The final engineer’s design for the bridge is being reviewed by ODOT and is scheduled for a January or February letting, which means construction could begin later this summer.

The Governor and Legislature, in trying to fund the State shortfall, has taken $130,000,000 out of the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) fund. The full impact of this action is not yet fully known, but this could possibly delay or remove from the County’s 5-year plan the needed replacement of bridges over West Cache Creek and Rock Creek on Cache Road west of the City of Cache and the bridge on Persimmon Creek on Airport Road south of Faxon.

Back in June, we signed an agreement with the low bidder, Overland Corporation, to mill out the high spots and to put down a 2-inch overlay on 82^nd Street from Coombs Road to S.H. 36. This project was supposed to have been completed by the end of July. However, because of continuing delays by Overland, I contacted the Assistant District Attorney to void the contract.

Before we rebid the 82^nd Street project, our road crew milled off some of the high spots and did extensive blade leveling to make the overlay smoother. At the December 4^th board meeting, we awarded the rebid to T&G Construction Company.

At the same board meeting, we also awarded the Cache Road Project to T&G, which will call for a 2-inch asphalt overlay starting just east of Paint Road and running through the intersection at 8^th Street (CR 115) in Cache and H Ave. This will connect with the asphalt overlay that goes in front of the County Barn. As a part of this bid, Showplace Ave. in Indiahoma will also receive a 2-inch asphalt overlay as well.

The Cache City Council voted to pay up to $40,000 toward the cost of the project between Crater Creek Road and CR 115 which is about half the cost for that mile. We are working with T&G to get this mile completed during the school’s Christmas break.  This will alleviate a traffic problem at the school and be less disruptive for the school and the contractors.  

T&G Construction has completed a 2-inch asphalt overlay of our Multiple Road Project. This includes Briarcreek and a portion of Heatherstone in Pecan Valley South, Deyo Mission from the Railroad tracks south to Lee Blvd, Cache Road from CR 115 to the West Cache Creek Bridge, Lee Blvd West of CR 115 to Quanah Road, CR 115 from Woodlawn to the Post Oak Creek Bridge, and Baseline portion of 115. The contractor still has to stripe them.

During the reporting period, we put dirt and gravel on the parking lot at the Indiahoma FFA barn and hauled a load of sand for the inside. We worked on the baseball diamond parking lot for Chattanooga School. We repaired the road and rebuilt the parking lot at the Field House for Cache Public Schools and put in a new road at the elementary school to help alleviate their traffic problem.

We removed some trees and did some road work at the Cache Cemetery and removed dirt from the Fairground coliseum after a stock show.

Richard Sellers retired from the District 3 work force having worked for 38 years. Richard had a number of jobs during his tenure with the County. His last responsibility was heading up the road building crew. We want to thank him for his commitment and dedication to the County and wish him the best in his retirement.

The County Barn will be closed for the Christmas and New Year Holidays, as employees take their scheduled leave. However, we will remain on call to respond to emergencies.

All of us at Comanche County District 3 want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!

If you have questions or concerns, I can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or you may phone the County Barn at 580-429-3217 or the Courthouse office at 580-353-3717.