Smith County Road & Bridge
Smith County Road & Bridge Department is a department of Smith County, Texas and is under the jurisdiction of the Smith County Commissioners Court.[1] Since 1948, The citizens of Smith County have directed by popular vote, that all road and bridge maintenance and construction be under the "Unit System" as prescribed by the Texas State Transportation Code. Under the Unit System, a County Engineer, or Road Administrator is appointed to direct maintenance and construction for the county as a whole without regard to individual commissioners' precincts to provide the most beneficial outcome for the taxpayers of Smith County. Smith County Road & Bridge Department is a department of Smith County, Texas and is under the jurisdiction of the Smith County Commissioners Court.[1] Since 1948, The citizens of Smith County have directed by popular vote, that all road and bridge maintenance and construction be under the "Unit System" as prescribed by the Texas State Transportation Code. Under the Unit System, a County Engineer, or Road Administrator is appointed to direct maintenance and construction for the county as a whole without regard to individual commissioners' precincts to provide the most beneficial outcome for the taxpayers of Smith County.
History
The election of 1948 specifically indicated a County Engineer be appointed and the Unit System be adopted. An additional referendum in 1952 upheld the earlier outcome by majority vote. The County Engineer also served as the Flood Plain Administrator for the county. County Engineers served continuously from 1948 until October 2007 when the serving County Engineer resigned, rejecting attempts by the Commissioner's Court to place him on a probationary status without due cause following a controversial vote by the court to modify traffic controls at two road intersections against the advice of the Engineer, ignoring the necessary warrants called for by the Uniform Manual of Traffic Control Devices.Smith County has 1,170 miles of County Road – the distance from Tyler, Texas to the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario. A breakdown of roads by precincts: Precinct 1: 297 miles Precinct 2: 218 miles Precinct 3: 514 miles Precinct 4: 141 miles The Smith County Road & Bridge Department not only maintains the county’s bridges and roads, including mowing the rights of way, but also offers services for all county department vehicles, including maintenance and minor repairs.
Frank Davis became the Smith County Engineer on July 7, 2014 after a near seven-year period of no county engineer on staff. He came to Smith County with more than 32 years of professional engineering and surveying experience, including 11 years as City Engineer and Director of Public Works for Tyler, Waxahachie and Desoto. His extensive civil engineering experience includes the areas of aviation, streets, roadways, drainage, downtown and park developments, wastewater collection systems, water transmission and distribution systems, pump stations and water storage facilities.
Road & Bridge personnel include five administrators, 58 laborers in the road crews and 11 people working in equipment maintenance. The department also uses Smith County Jail trustees for some of its labor.
Organization
Smith County operates under the Unit Road System, wherein the County Engineer is responsible for the roads in the county without regard to precincts, and he oversees the construction and maintenance for all county roads.
Road & Bridge Construction Div. was reorganized around specific work crews in 2005 as part of the Road Recovery Plan. The crews included: Road Reconstruction, which dealt with paving, grading, and pavement reconstruction, Right of Way Maintenance, responsible for mowing, clearing, and boom axe, Bridge crew, and Patch crew. Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance Div. includes supervision, mechanics, welders, parts, tires, and fuel for the county vehicle fleet. Administration included the County Engineer, Superintendent, Inspector, and admin staff. Total manpower also included trustees provided by the Sheriff's office.
Funding Levels
Road & Bridge Funding has not kept pace with increases in general revenue funds since 2007. The termination of the Road Recovery Program in 2007 initiated a reduction in the commitment of the Commissioner's Court to the goal of improving the 2/3 of all County Roads rated as "Bad" or "Poor". In the 2005 and 2006 Budgets, approximately $2 million per year was transferred from the general fund to the Road & Bridge Fund to maintain the initiative. When the position of County Engineer was eliminated in 2007, Road & Bridge funding as a portion of the county budget was reduced despite County Revenues rising from $43.3 million in 2005 to an estimated $65.2 million in 2012. The net effect being that revenues derived county wide were diverted to projects within the Tyler city limits while county roads fell further into disrepair and became more expensive to maintain.
Initial report data on the current status of the county road system shows that the overall condition of the county road system has not substantially changed since 2007.
The county has budgeted $2.9 million for Fiscal Year 2015-15 for "Special Road Projects," to immediately start work on reconstructing and rebuilding roads after the Capital Improvement Plan is approved. The 2015 budget includes $593,000 for road oil for oil dirt road reconstruction; $1 million for asphalt for patching and overlays; and $600,000 for seal coating of roads.