Ashland County Road 1610 may become private road; usage is low, report shows

Barry Fortune
·2 min read

County Engineer Ed Meixner spoke to the Ashland County commissioners Thursday on a number of road improvements for the 2024 season. The newest project was the proposed vacation of County Road 1610.

“We did a traffic count on it last year over an eight-day period,” Meixner said. “And there were 24 cars. We have a pretty low vehicle count on the road. I have come to the conclusion that Ashland County and the vast majority of taxpayers in Ashland County don’t receive any benefit from County Road 1610. I propose we revert it back … and it become a private road.”

He said residents living there would maintain access to it as well as the utilities, noting this is the process the state requires.

“We have done this before,” Commissioner James Justice said.

“And obviously a lot of townships have done this,” Commissioner Mike Welch said. “Rowsburg and Red Haw. It is pretty common.”

By going forward with the proposal, commissioners authorized an advertisement regarding the public viewing of County Road 1610 to be held at the property at 9:30 a.m. June 11, and also for a public hearing to be held at 9:15 a.m. June 13 in the board’s meeting room.

“You can hear from anyone to be in favor or against it,” Meixner said. “And at some point in time after that you would make a decision to vacate it or not.”

In other matters commissioners:

  • Placed a 1998 Toyota 4-runner, a 2016 Ford Explorer and a 2006 International Bus on GovDeals.com for auction.

  • Canceled the board’s meeting for Tuesday, May 14.

  • Authorized an advertisement to be published in the for a Dog Shelter Advisory Committee meeting to be held at noon June 3.

  • Entered into a contract with Melway Paving for $225,400 for road sealing.

  • Accepted an estimate for $13,110 from Knox Locksmithing to change the combination locks to key fob entry locks in the medical section of the jail.

Commissioners will meet 9 a.m. Thursday in the Commissioner’s Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. The meetings are open. They are livestreamed on the Ashland County Government Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland County engineer proposes vacation of County Road 1610