Being short-handed most of the year has made it difficult for the Burleigh County road department to get everything on its project list completed, said county engineer Jon Mill.

The four-person department is finally at full staffing for the first time this year, with the hiring of engineering technician Travis Eckroth, a construction-management graduate of North Dakota State University. Eckroth is originally from Flasher, but he had been working in Richardton.

In April, the department hired Minot's Dan Schirock as assistant county engineer. Schirock is a 2006 civil engineering graduate of NDSU.

"We're a pretty lean operation when people are missing," Mill said. "It kept us from aggressively pursuing some of the projects. And even though we're at full staffing now, it still takes some time before everyone is acclimated to their positions."

Burleigh did complete the paving of KMK Estates, a $72,000 project that was split between the county, Bismarck, Hay Creek Township and the residents of the subdivision in north Bismarck. The project was carried out with the intent that KMK will be annexed to the city.

"It was a nasty situation up there, and there was no way to keep the gravel roads in good condition,"Mill said. "We did some grading and drainage on Buckskin Avenue and put asphalt on Buckskin, Arabian and Colt avenues."

The county road department focused much of its efforts on routine maintenance, patching and graveling. Next year, plans are to move graveling in-house, rather than contract for the work, Mill said. The county will purchase three belly dump trailers and two tractors for the work, at a cost of about $170,000. "That amount is available in our budget since we got more money back from some blades we sold than expected," Mill said.

Since patching operations have been running much more efficiently using hot mix rather than cold mix, the work is getting done sooner. This will allow the county to shift the crew from patching to graveling. There are plans to hire one additional person for the road department to help out.

There had been plans to chip seal 13 miles of Burleigh County Highway 10, but federal aid for the project was delayed, so it won't take place until next year. Also on the 2008 project list will be the paving of 149th Street, estimated at more than $750,000.

Currently under way is a project putting several turn lanes along 71st Avenue and Centennial Road.

"We just started working on that now, but by the end of next week or early the week after that, it should be complete," Mill said. "There's quite a bit of traffic up there, and it tends to get bunched up, so we decided to put the turn lanes in. This project will be close to $100,000."

Mill has been looking at softening the intersection of Airway Avenue and Yegen Drive, but he anticipates there will be some problems acquiring the needed rights of way. Until those problems are worked out the project will be put on a back burner.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)