Published: May 05, 2009 10:18 am      

Torn-up roads raise the fury of residents

INFRASTRUCTURE | Despite pleas, man says county is doing nothing to stop road destruction

He says he’s been watching roads get torn up and crumbled in Pittsburg County, but he can’t get anyone to stop it.

Curtis Golden feels as if he’s hit nothing but roadblocks in trying to get enforcement of weight limits on Pittsburg County roads — especially those near his home on Pasture Road near Alderson.

Golden said Pasture Road has a 20 ton weight limit, but a neighbor of his who has moved in a trucking company often drives trucks over the road that exceed the limit.

“They’re right at 20 tons, without a load,” Golden said.

Golden said he’s also concerned about the width of the roads.

“The roads are real narrow,” said Golden, who said he’s seen bulldozers on trucks with the blade hanging off the side.

He said there’s been a lot of damage.

“It’s really bad,” Golden said. He said it hasn’t always been that way.

“The roads were pretty good for what they’ve got to work with,” he said.

Golden said he’s talked to law enforcement, county officials and state officials, but hasn’t been able to get the heavy truck traffic stopped on the road.

Golden’s neighbor, William Sharp, who operates WWJB Contracting, had a response.

What does he tell his neighbors when they complain to him about his trucks being too heavy?

“The only thing I can tell them — is I’m not breaking any laws,” Sharp said.

Sharp said he has three trucks, 18-wheelers, that are driven by himself and two employees.

Meanwhile, Pittsburg County commissioners passed a resolution last June setting the load limits on county roads at 20 tons. District 1 Commissioner Gene Rogers said he felt an earlier resolution passed years ago had already been in place, but when a copy of it couldn’t be found, commissioners passed the second resolution.

Rogers has submitted a bill for $20,972 for damages he alleges has been caused by trucks from Sharp’s company.

The commissioners gave the bill to District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller, who sent it to Sharp.

Sharp said he’s given the bill to his attorney.

“I feel discriminated against,” Sharp said.

“I’m not the only big truck on these roads.”

Sharp said a state law enforcement officer from the size and weights division of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has been to his property and checked his trucks.

“They told me if I’m operating a business from my home, they could not keep from driving to and from it,” Sharp said.

He said he had been told he had to take a specific route to and from his property, and that’s the route he takes.