Outside the city, not all community roads are considered “county-maintained,” even though they provide access to parcels and neighborhoods.

After blizzards, rain and snowmelt, many of the driveways are technically impassable, taking a heavy toll on citizens.

Paula Emberty has lived in the Donny Park home since 1999. Her home is on an unmaintained road in Coconino County. It’s in an area that experienced significant flooding after a pipeline fire, where spills from government tanks caused additional damage to roads.

Emberty has flood insurance, but it only covers her property and home, not road maintenance.

On a recent drive from school, Emberty’s teenage daughter hit a large pothole that punctured the vehicle’s oil pan and left black marks on the dirt and gravel roads.

“She walked into the driveway and said, ‘Mom, I think I did something to my car. I was. I went out and looked and that’s it. You can’t drive because you don’t have oil,” Emberty said.

She called the tow company and soon found out that the very condition that led to the accident was the fault of the service. A tow truck can’t make her way to recover a broken down car.

That same week, Emberty needed a septic tank repaired. The large vehicles needed for the work were also unable to follow the trail. Delivery trucks and mailmen were also unable to take out the trash.

“I received mail delivery on January 4th and then stopped delivering. We can’t have residents towed for liability purposes, so we have to wait for the tow truck driver to come down the road,” she said.

With no other option, she paid for the cinders to be carried to fill the void and provide the services her family depended on.

Emberty isn’t alone in her situation.

According to Coconino County Public Works Commissioner and County Engineer Christopher Tressler, the Highway Department has received multiple calls from areas where propane trucks “can’t pass.” The problem was those calls were from residents off the driveway.

People will live in the driveway because developers are responsible for creating both the initial road layout and its infrastructure. Developers can then form Homeowners Associations (HOAs) to maintain the roads or shift the blame to new property owners.

“I think there is a gray area. [maps] The words “This road is dedicated to the public.” It does not necessarily mean that the county has accepted it into the county inventory for maintenance by the county.

In theory, you could add a road to the county inventory that connects to the county-maintained thoroughfare. The process is technical, expensive, and requires the input and approval of most of the people living in the driveway.

To permanently add a driveway to the county maintenance list, neighbors must first come together and file a petition with the county clerk of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. Oversight board policy requires his 70% of property owners in the proposed road improvement district to participate and sign the petition.

The property value of the driveway is then assessed and that valuation is established as a lien on the property of the homeowner. Individual property owners in the district can pay the full amount at the time of appraisal or cover the costs over 10 years. The amount a property owner should pay may be based on the amount of land running parallel to the road, per acre, or per lot.

In the petition, neighbors agree to pay an assessment fee to bring the road up to county standards. This includes paving dirt and gravel roads. Once the road meets county standards, it can be permanently included in the county’s maintenance inventory if the final product is approved by the oversight board.

“[Special districts] It requires county approval and requires the consent of a majority of the residents in the area.So without support from the county, we have to jump through the county’s political hoops,” Emberty said. [special road improvement districts] listed on their website. That’s how attractive their process is to residents. I have four. “

In general, if the total cost of improvement exceeds one-third of the homeowner’s property value, improvement districts are not a viable option.

“For many people who will probably call and ask, maintenance districts are a much more viable option,” said Mark Della Rocca, community relations manager for Coconino County Public Works.

Unlike road improvement districts, improvement districts are not designed to ultimately be handed over to the county.

According to the Coconino County Public Works website, maintenance districts “provide a mechanism for county residents to improve roads and ensure a minimum maintenance of roads (in line with county improvement standards).” and build roads) and establish full financial participation among neighbors.”

Once the maintenance district is formed, each property owner makes a financial commitment to the project. Despite potentially lower price tags than improvement districts, maintenance districts require the majority of neighbors on a particular road to agree.

Emberty said organizing and persuading neighbors to pay the assessment fee proved difficult. The people who live on her trail don’t always agree on what to do. So she’ll have to bear the bills of her improvements herself — if she wants them to happen.

“I started attending county meetings in 2000 and wanted to be ready to help residents maintain their roads long before fires started, long before flooding became a problem. “We’ve asked county supervisors, and they’re maintaining their stance that they won’t do that,” Emberty said.

From a public works standpoint, Tressler and Della Rocca say what they are legally allowed to do is limited. They can help make way to private property for first responders in an emergency, but that’s about where their capabilities lie.

“With regard to private property, there is a gift clause that states that the government cannot directly gift money or assistance to people who are on private property,” Tressler said. “All of the county’s resources, funding sources, and revenues that I know of are related to public infrastructure. If so, we can definitely work on it.

According to Tressler, maintaining roads in the county’s inventory has proven itself a daunting task. For one thing, the county has limited funding and personnel.

“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘I pay taxes, so I want to know the benefits of paying taxes. hmm,” he said. Public works and roads sectors are funded by gas taxes. “

Arizona’s gas tax is 18.1 cents a gallon and hasn’t been raised since the 1990s. To fill the gap, Coconino County imposes a sales tax, which Tressler said makes some difference.

“I really appreciate having a local road maintenance sales tax that raises revenues that help us update and maintain our infrastructure,” Tressler said. “We’re extending our pennies wherever we can. It can be frustrating at times, but we’re always looking for alternatives to cut costs and make things better.”

Public works personnel are down 30 to 35 percent, and the county relies on contractors for snow removal, pothole repairs and general maintenance, Tressler said.

“Well, we’re in the final week of March, and I’d say that our crew is basically going back to Christmas with an increased level of response or deployment,” Della Rocca said. We’ve been talking about this for 100 days, with very few breaks, and of course this was a historic winter in many ways.”

According to Tressler, between contract workers and public works team members, they were able to distribute tasks and get as much done as possible.

Still, he said, this winter was a stark reminder of what it means to live in a more rural part of the county, whether the roads are maintained by the county or not.

“People chose to live in rural Coconino County. There should be some expectation that it will not be the same as when

Priority is assigned if the road is a county service responsibility.

Tressler’s department measures average daily traffic (ADT) on county roads to determine where to cultivate first and where to repave or grade.

Areas will be moved to the top of the list if extreme weather causes major disruption to the county’s infrastructure and poses a public safety hazard.

This season has brought historic spills and extreme freeze-thaw cycles to the region, leaving some roads in chaos.

“There have been no current road closures related to road punctures or deterioration,” says Tressler. “Some of the places where the water crosses the road have closed the road and will remain closed until the water dries up and stops flowing.”

Garland Playa Road is subject to such a closure, Tressler said. It was the center of repair work on Tuesday.

“In some places we see debris flows or semi-landslides that have affected roads,” he said.

Just last week, Slayton Ranch Road collapsed after two 24-inch culverts were overrun with water rushing through Rio Defrag.

“By Saturday evening or Sunday morning, Rio Defrag had stopped flowing. “We had a lot of fun,” said Tressler. “We are evaluating some of the Rio Defrag waterways and how they need to be improved. The freeze-thaw cycle in our region is one of the most extreme,” he said. think.”

He said the exact reason why Slayton Ranch Road collapsed under a school bus on Friday was difficult to pinpoint because much of the evidence was “washed downstream”.

Tressler said this winter has exposed infrastructure weaknesses such as the Slayton Ranch Road culvert, offering engineers opportunities to make upgrades.

“It helps inform us of some of the weaknesses that we may not have been aware of before. As many areas within the county were developed, they were developed to varying degrees of standard.” “The culvert on Slayton Ranch Road? We want to replace it with infrastructure that can withstand a once-in-50-years rainfall. We’re running an analysis to understand what it is. would undoubtedly want to install larger culverts, create headwalls and put back a more robust infrastructure to provide a higher level of service and be able to withstand flooding without being compromised. thinking about.”

He called road disruptions “catastrophic” and said his department hopes to build more resilient infrastructure, at least on county-managed roads, based on observations from this winter. said.