Don’t dodge barricades

Sheriff’s office warns about dangerous roads

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BROOKINGS – The melting snow and recent rains have taken a toll on area roads, some of which are barricaded, according to the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office. 

Those barriers are up because the roads are dangerous to use and to keep drivers from doing more damage to the roads, Brookings County Emergency Manager Bob Hill said.

Assistant Sheriff Scott Sebring warns people to not remove barricades or orange cones or drive around the barriers due to the dangers posed by the damaged roadways.

“These are put up for the public’s safety so they’re aware not to travel down these roads,” Sebring said. If you take or remove the barriers, “then you put the public at risk.”

Only those who live on the roads or workers there on official business should be traveling those roads, Sebring said.

It’s illegal for anyone to take the barriers or for non-residents to go around them, which could result in citations and fines, but that’s not the worst thing that could happen, he said.

“(That) is minimal compared to getting hurt or even possibly losing your life,” Sebring said.

“There are some roads that are washed out. There’s roads that the gravel’s completely off and the culverts are exposed. You’ve got roads that may still have running water over them. There’s definitely a danger factor that some people don’t take seriously enough, in my opinion,” Sebring said.

Being swept away can happen, too.

“Any time you attempt to cross running water, you do not know what’s underneath or what’s not underneath,” he warned. The water can hide the fact the road is gone or the culvert isn’t strong enough to support a vehicle.

“The county gravels, whether they’re township or county roads, are extremely soft right now ’cause we got the frost coming out and we just had the snow event,” Hill said.

Speed in these conditions can “cause them to go off the road and have an accident,” Hill said.

“People don’t need to be traveling on them. They’re beating them to death is what they’re doing,” Hill said.

“What four-wheel drives do is they tear the roads up so bad that when a two-wheel drive tries to come through, sometimes, they bottom out and can cause damage to the bottom of the car,” Hill said, adding that two-wheel drive vehicles are more likely to get stuck in the churned-up mud.

If deputies find a stuck vehicle where it isn’t supposed to be, “odds are pretty good that they’re gonna get a ticket if we find them. They can be charged,” Sebring said.

Plus, they’re making it harder to get the roads fixed. 

“We’re trying to determine damages to the roads,” Hill said. The damage estimate will help determine how much money the townships can get for repairs. The townships are working on putting those packets together now. At some point, an end date will be set, Hill said.

“Then, if they keep damaging them afterward, townships especially are gonna lose a chance to recoup some of that money,” he warned, meaning the roads probably won’t get all the repairs they need.

Taking a joyride down a blocked-off road might seem harmless, but it can hurt the roads, your vehicle, and even injure or kill you.

“It’s a very serious thing,” Sebring said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.