Frequently Asked Questions

With over 400 miles of gravel and minimum maintenance roadways in the county, Leavenworth County does not provide any chemical applications or water trucks to reduce dust during the dry summer months. This is available through a third party vendor for any interested resident. For information, please contact the Public Works office or the County Shop.

The Road and Bridge crews conduct maintenance on gravel roads year-round. However, to reduce dust and loose rock on the road surface, only minimal blading of gravel roads is performed during the dry weather of summer months. This may result in a few more chuckholes and wash board areas but the net result will be a driving surface that is safer for the traveling public. Occasionally the surface of a gravel road is bladed to correct the crown surface irregularities or fill substantial potholes.

During blading, a windrow of material may be left in the middle or side of the road. This windrow will require that you drive with more care than usual. During maintenance, loose material is present on the surface and heavy equipment is working the area. Please proceed with caution.

Gravel roads are usually not as wide as paved roads, so you should slow down when meeting other vehicles. Rock can be thrown up from other vehicles, causing windshield and paint damage.

The Public Works Department has both county funded projects and resident funded opportunities for hard surfacing existing gravel roadways.

Each county funded roadway project is selected for varying reasons. There are currently several projects under design and construction throughout the county that have been  prioritized based on safety concerns and high incident rates, higher than usual traffic counts, community connectivity, community growth and other considerations of the Public Works department and County Commissioners.

Resident funded hard surfacing is available through the Dust Control Program. This program is available to any resident living on a county maintained gravel roadway and is charged to residents on a per foot basis. Request for Dust Control forms are released annually and allow residents to purchase chip & seal, installed by the County, during the following construction season. Forms can be picked up from the Public Works Office, County Shop, or found on our website.

The Public Works department is always looking to the future and creating a plan for the next roadway improvements. To see if your roadway is currently planned to receive a hard surface, please see call the Public Works Main Office and speak to our engineering staff or visit our Project Status Updates page on our website.

Public Works will close a road while performing maintenance on or near the roadway. A “road closed” sign will be placed at the nearest major intersections. All roads will remain open only to residential & emergency vehicles. Residents should be able to access their driveways and mailboxes. However; a detour may be required.

Road and Bridge does their best to reopen any closed road prior to the end of the work day, however there may be times that that is not possible. We appreciate your patience as we work in your area.

Follow Leavenworth County on Facebook for updated and road closures. For specific closure information please call the County Shop.

Sign vandalism and theft costs the county taxpayers more than $30,000 per year. Theft and vandalism of signs especially stop and warning signs, may contribute to serious traffic accidents. Sign vandalism, theft, and possession of stolen signs are a violation of state law.

Signs should be returned to the County Shop. No questions will be asked. If you observe an act of sign vandalism or theft, please report this crime to the Sheriff’s department immediately.

Although some other states have posted such signs, factual evidence has not presented to document their success in reducing pedestrian accidents, operating speeds, or legal liability. Studies have shown that many types of signs attempting to warn of normal conditions in residential areas have failed to achieve the desires safety benefits.

There exists a concern that signs such as these encourage parents to believe they have an added degree of protections, which the signs do not and cannot provide. Children should not be encouraged to play within the street travel ways. Because of these serious considerations, Federal Standards discourage the use of “Children at Play” signs.* The sign has long been rejected since it is a direct and open suggestion that this behavior is acceptable. Specific warnings for schools, playgrounds, parks and other recreational facilities are available for use where clearly justified.

*Sign removed from standard signs in FHWA’s MUTCD 2000 edition.