Deneve tney nave lived too long with the muddy

Deneve tney nave lived too long with the muddy winters and dusty summers of dirt roads. They have a point. Those who live on the county’s dirt roads know the futility of washing a car. One pass down the road and the car is dirty again. Their clammor for pavement is understandable.

Also understandable are the cries of those who believe our remaining dirt roads should be preserved to make us slow down and see the redbud and dogwood, smell fresh hay and ripening corn, hear the quail and the grouse.

There are problems both ways as well. An example is Route 621, running north from Woodville, through Five Forks to the Shade Road, Route 622. Two decades ago it was a dirt road for the entire length and traffic ambled gently along. No one was in a big hurry. The road wouldn’t let you be. Now the road is paved from Woodville to Five Forks and the highway department is working hard on the rest of it. When the yellow trucks are gone and pavement has replaced the dirt and gravel, that piece of the county will be changed.

Local traffic will speed down that road on the way from Woodville to Washington because it will be not only shorter but quicker as well — quicker that is for traffic willing to risk 50 miles an hour down a narrow, twisty road. And risk it they certainly will.

Drivers will not be tempted to stop on the bridge and look at the Thornton River at Rudisill s Mill. They will never notice the covey of quail near White Walnut Run. They will be in a terrible hurry.

Our dirt roads are a dearly beloved treasure for some and a constant headache for others. Whatever our views, the supervisors and the highway department sit down together and listen to our concerns once a year at the annual road hearing. Several sections of dirt roads are scheduled for “improvement” in the upcoming fiscal year. To voice our views we should attend the road hearing next Monday at 7 p.m. in the courthouse.