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Dirt and Gravel Roads
Clearfield County Dirt & Gravel
Road Maintenance Program Priorities:
- Impact to water quality
- Treat the problems based on the long term effect to water
quality
- Emphasize the protection of watersheds determined as
exceptional value or high quality
- Use of environmentally sensitive techniques and products
- Commitment of the participants
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Pennsylvania's dirt and gravel roads are here to
stay.
Although many people perceive
of dirt and gravel roads as a nuisance - relics of slower-paced time
in our history just waiting to be paved - the facts show these roads
are important links in Pennsylvania's overall transportation network.
Covering more than 27,000 miles throughout the commonwealth, dirt and
gravel roads provide vital access for Pennsylvania's major industries
- agriculture, mining, forestry, and tourism - while weaving the
fabric of rural community life for over 3.6 million residents. Paved
roads and highways carry high maintenance costs. Local municipalities
and state agencies - with jurisdiction over more than 90% of the
state's dirt and gravel roads - can ill afford to pave dirt roads and
then adequately maintain them.
The Clearfield County
Conservation District is one of the first in Pennsylvania to take
advantage of the state's environmental clearance of a new method of
maintaining dirt and gravel roadways.
Currently dirt roads are being selected as candidates
for improvement according to the road's location in respect to high
quality streams.
The project's objective is to
correct dust and sediment problems connected with unpaved (dirt &
gravel) road systems in a manner which is sensitive to environmental
conditions of the living plants, animals, waterways, aesthetics and
culture of the area.
The Dirt and Gravel Roads
Project reviews the surrounding terrain, road banks, ditches, road
bases, and road surfaces to determine the components that are
contributing to the dust problems. A local project will be created
taking into account the funding, cost effectiveness and local
priorities needed to complete the project.
The primary goal is to reduce the amount of dust and
sediment that gets blown and washed from the roadway into the high
quality streams. Once the roads adjacent to high quality streams are
assessed and corrected, other roads come into consideration.
Local municipalities are
eligible for funding to improve their local dirt and gravel roads only
after they complete the Dirt and Gravel Road training.
Click to go to the
Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission - Dirt and Gravel Roads
Maintenance Program
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