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Whitman County’s decision on a proposal to abandon two stretches of little-used roads will be held off until harvest season is over.
Crow Road and a portion of the File Road are on the county’s chopping block. Both are in the Oakesdale district.
Commissioners held a public hearing Monday on taking them off the roster of county roads. No one from the public spoke at the hearing, but Public Works Director Mark Storey suggested commissioners postpone a decision until after harvest so neighborhood residents can have a chance to weigh in on the matter after they complete harvest.
After news of the proposed abandonment was announced, Commissioner Pat O’Neill received a phone call from Mac Crow, whose family uses the road for its farming operation.
O’Neill said Crow wanted to speak to commissioners about the proposed vacation, but could not make it to the hearing because of harvest.
O’Neill then called Storey about postponing the decision.
“I’m not a farmer. I wasn’t thinking about harvest and the fact that this is harvest time for that area,” Storey said about scheduling the hearing at the end of August.
Both roads are primarily used by farmers to access their ground.
No date was set for the hearing, but officials are eyeing early October.
Crow Road is due east of Oakesdale. The short stretch of road provides access to an area off the Trestle Creek Road near the Eckhart Road intersection. An abandoned farmstead home sits on the hillside above.
Storey said its awkward alignment with the Trestle Creek Road, a drastic angle, makes for a dangerous intersection. He added the wooden bridge on the Crow Road will soon need replacement, and the benefit to the public transportation system would not justify that cost.
The portion of File Road up for abandonment is a dirt stretch that runs west from its intersection with State Route 271 north of Oakesdale.
The dirt road starts with a very steep descent beneath a railroad trestle and runs through farmground owned by several families.
There is still no word on the pending vacation of the Campbell Road, near Tekoa, and the Mac Hatley Road, near Ewartsville, which were put on the list to be abandoned in February. Both of those road segments involve bridges.
Prosecutor Denis Tracy is still researching the legality of abandoning roads with bridges. That question was brought up during the public hearings on those road vacations.
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