Lincoln County District No. 2 received a matching grant of up to $75,000 from the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to improve an unpaved road.
District No. 2 Commissioner Marlon Miller said the grant was for a specific project on Road 3400 between 970 and 980. The grant will be used to widen the road, create proper drainage, install ditch checks and replace some cross drains under the road. Once the improvements have been made, he said they will then gravel the road.
Miller said the conservation commission is targeting erosion. He added that what he likes about this program is that it is trying to raise awareness that the old way of just grading the roads isn’t working.
“Typical grading the road every two weeks - like we’ve always done in the past - that creates erosion,” he said. “Grading is not the answer.”
District No. 2 received a $50,000 grant last year that was used for a similar project on a different road. Miller said he was pretty excited about it and that the ditch checks were really working well.
“The purpose of a ditch check is to collect sediment and slow the water down and it’s working really well,” he said. District No. 3 also received a $50,000 grant for unpaved roads last year.
Miller said all the grants the county qualifies for are matching grants. Because of that, they can only afford to apply for two to three grants a year.