Committee seeks county funding to pave roadway in Laurel Run Park

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October 24th, 2014 6:45 am by Jeff Bobo

CHURCH HILL Laurel Run Park gives hikers access to some challenging wilderness trails, but the road leading into the park has become almost as rugged as the trails and an adventure to traverse in itself.

That's a problem Hawkins County leaders would like to deal with sooner rather than later because the worse the road conditions become, the more expensive the road will be to repair.

On Tuesday the Hawkins County Commission's Parks Committee voted unanimously to ask the Budget Committee if it would consider using reserves from the county general fund to pave the park's internal roadway.

Parks Committee members Joe McLain and Glenda Davis both sit on the Budget Committee. They agreed to raise the issue at the next Budget Committee meeting, scheduled for Nov. 17.

The area proposed for paving is from the park entrance gate to the area near the public restrooms, which is basically the same roadway inside the park that's currently paved, and doesn't include gravel parking areas.

Although the park is county owned, the roadway inside the gate isn't a county road. Legally it's treated like a private driveway. That means the road isn't maintained by the county highway department as part of the county road system.

W.L. Construction is the Hawkins County Highway Department's low bidder for contracted paving projects.

Hawkins County facilities manager Alana Roberts told the committee Tuesday she asked highway superintendent Lowell Bean to obtain an estimate from W.L. Construction for paving the park's internal road. The estimate came back at $55,900 for 2-inch-thick pavement and $41,925 for 1.5 inches thick.

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Committee seeks county funding to pave roadway in Laurel Run Park