Franklin County neighborhood feels stranded by private roads

Parents start showing up on a dirt lot next to the Pasco-Kahlotus highway shortly before the bus arrives.

For some, it’s the second or third time they will wait that day for the bus to pick up or drop off their child.

One mom with three special needs children, makes six trips each school day to the rural bus stop.

A small enclave of more than 20 houses is located along a series of private farm roads about two miles from the highway.

“Our days are shot,” said mom Teresa Cabadas.

While the distance from the highway gives families some seclusion, several parents are saying the unimproved dirt roads leave them nearly trapped sometimes. The county won’t plow snow from the roads, and they’re considered too treacherous for school buses.

Last winter’s 20 inches of snow kept them from reaching the highway, leaving all of the children living in the area stuck at home.

“We’ve had our car stuck where we couldn’t get out until the snow melts between my house out to the highway,” she said. “We can’t send our child to school ... By March or April, I was getting a letter from the school. They made me sign a contract and if she missed one more day they would send me to the truancy board.”

Even when they aren’t socked in by snow, rain turns the dirt roads into a muddy mess.

Private roads

There is only one way in and out of the small group of homes. First drive about a 1.25 miles down Peterson Road, then drive another half mile on Haugen Road.

The county isn’t responsible for maintaining private roads, so they don’t get plowed. And school buses won’t risk driving down unimproved roads that look possibly impassable.

But the parents haven’t been silent. Dozens signed a petition addressed to the county commissioners in 2016 to “demand good and stable road conditions.”

“We always struggle to get in and out of town. Cars get stuck in the mud and most of them can’t even get out unless someone pulls them,” they wrote.

Cabadas is concerned that the unpaved road could end up costing someone’s life during an emergency.

The petition has accomplished little. The last time the county looked at taking over Peterson Road it was as part of a project to build a new public road to the Juniper Dunes Wilderness.

They dismissed the idea after learning it would cost as much to fix as it would to replace. They settled on another location to build the access road.

Now the only way Peterson and Haugen could become county roads is if the private landowners rebuild the roads to county standards, said Franklin County Engineer Craig Erdman.

It’s unclear if the landowners are willing to do that.

But until the roads come under county control, people living along them aren’t likely to see plows or school buses.

Highway turnout

The same problems that prevent parents from reaching the highway, keeps the school buses out, said Shane Edinger, the district spokesman.

The district’s 160 school buses serve about 13,000 students every day, with more than 600 of those students living in rural areas of Franklin County. Those students end up walking or being picked up by their parents.

The district works with the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool and the state superintendent’s regional transportation office to “assess potential safety issues with some rural and private roads that are not regularly maintained by the county or state,” district officials said.

“If issues are found on those roads that compromise safety, efficiency and accessibility, the district will locate and identify safe access points on nearby public roads, where students can be safely picked up and dropped off by district buses,” officials said.

While the school buses aren’t able to reach the the homes, district officials have been working with the residents to make it safer to drop off and pick up students.

At the beginning of the school year, the students from that neighborhood needed to cross the highway to reach the bus stop. The district has moved the stop across the street now.

And they’re working with the county to pave the turnout area for the buses, Edinger said.

The design has been finished and they are planning to start work before the end of the school year.