Blue River Gains Long-Awaited Street Upgrade

BLUE RIVER: For decades, Blue River residents have been encountered jarring rides along washboard streets in the town’s core. They are now enjoying newly paved streets, funded by more than a half million dollars in grant money left over from the community’s water system improvement project.

The paving covers sections of Blue River, Rose, Echo, Dexter, McCauley and McKenzie streets. Along with smoother driving surfaces, the upgrade offers long-term protection for new underground water lines that were recently installed. The grant for the water system didn’t originally approve paving as a use. But bids for installing the new infrastructure came in lower than expected. Lane County staff then made the successful case that paving the streets would protect the water district’s upgrade better and for longer than merely replacing the gravel that construction had removed.

In all, $614,229 in available grant funding was redirected by the county toward the paving improvements.

A longstanding distinction between county-maintained roads and what are called local access roads was also brought into focus by the project. Lane County spans approximately 4,500 square miles and maintains about 1,436 miles of roads. Some public roads, though, are classified as local access roads, or LARs, and that includes streets in Blue River. Decades ago, these roads were left out of the county’s maintained road system, so upkeep became the responsibility of adjoining property owners. Those owners pay transportation taxes just as residents along other county and city roads do, but the county provides no routine maintenance for local access roads. Poor road conditions may also expose property owners to potential liability for damage or injuries, even though many of them have not known about their maintenance responsibilities. Surrounding property values, too, can be affected by the condition of these roads. For Blue River residents, especially those who put up with deteriorating gravel surfaces for years, the recent paving is a significant improvement. Lane County stresses, however, that the streets’ legal classification is unchanged by the paving. Roads designated as local access roads stay outside the county-maintained road system, and adjoining property owners remain responsible for future maintenance. For the time being, the project gives Blue River’s streets a welcome improvement and protects an important investment in the community’s rebuilt water infrastructure.