By Lydia Bradley

Every day, 80 students are forced to change buses multiple times as they slowly make their way from Galeton to the middle and high school. Transportation Director Jeff Clark, has been faced with a challenge due to the fact that Weld County Public Works (WCPW) is getting ready to pave a two-mile stretch on WCR 80 from WCR 51 to 55.  Clark said that the school district will tackle this upcoming challenge by talking with the superintendent to see if the buses can get “special access” in the afternoon so the buses can easily try to drop off students.

Steve DeTienne, road and bridge supervisor for the WCPW, said that the process will involve “spreading dry Portland cement on the roadway, then place recycled asphalt, then chip-seal for the finished product” over the stretch of road. Clark said that the county is really good about sending out notifications when there will be road and bridge closures. However, Clark said that paving this road is a small inconvenience but the “sooner it is paved, the better it will be for everyone.”

Clark hopes that the county will eventually pave more roads because with the oil field traffic that is constantly wearing the dirt roads down; the rough roads are constantly beating up the busses causing Clark to have to be making repairs at least twice a month. Fortunately for the bus drivers, this road paving will only last a couple of weeks.