Kate Lowe Road is a three-mile stretch that connects FM 350 to FM 1988. Livingston won’t be confused for an urban area anytime soon, but traffic can build around Highways 190 and 59.
That is where Kate Lowe began to see an increase in vehicles. Those not wanting to sit through multiple red lights have opted for the winding country road.
And now, the country charm has pleased neither shortcut-seekers nor those who live in the area.
It was blacktopped four years ago, but deteriorated to the point that most was torn out in the fall of last year. Small portions of the blacktop remain, but the road is now mostly dirt and pea gravel. Travelers unhappy with the changes have taken to social media, called the commissioner’s office, or messaged the Enterprise with their complaints.
Polk County Precinct 1 Commissioner Guylene Robertson said large vehicles and a steady flow of traffic forced a change.
“It was taken out because the heavy traffic that we get on that road. It was heavy weight, plus heavy traffic, had torn it up. It was never meant to be a major highway.”
Robertson said pea gravel is used all over the area to provide substantial support and protect from roads becoming muddy. A common theme to the complaints received is that the road is no longer paved.
“All of the precincts in the county use that,” she said of the pea gravel. “It is a widely used and widely accepted driving material.”
County crews have continued to resmooth the road to improve conditions. The commissioner said a “good rain” would go a long way to help.
“It would settle the dirt. As the ground became soft, the cars and trucks going over it would pack it in, so it would become a solid surface.”
As a comparison, Robertson said Jr Phillips Road was blacktopped around the same point in time four years back. With a few patches, the surface has held up. The amount of traffic, and especially the size of vehicles, has not been what Kate Lowe has experienced.
Ideally, the road would return to something similar, but funds must first be made available.
“Our dream would be that every single road might be paved and blacktopped, but at this point in time, the resources – we're still trying to find them,” Robertson said. “In a perfect world, that is great, but we work within the budget that we have available.
“We are actively looking for any type of grant that would possibly furnish the revenue to repave that particular road and any other road we have that needs it.”
