From Pleasant Plains to Batesville, AR, county road workers help keep Independence County’s roads and bridges safe and easy to navigate.
Independence County Road and Bridge Department Duties consist of:
- Build underdeveloped county roads to meet new county standards.
- Resurface and widen existing hard surfaced county roads.
- Patch potholes
- Gravel road maintenance and grading on a regular basis and secondary roads as needed.
- Haul base, gravel, or rock for gravel road maintenance.
- Snow and ice removal using rock or sand for traction.
- Tree removal off of county roads after storms.
- Repair and maintain shoulders of the county roads.
- Cleaning and maintain culverts and ditches.
- Mowing Right of Ways.
- Cutting trees that are on right-of-ways which may be a danger to the public.
- Trimming limbs on and over right-of-ways.
Seasonal Reminders
Please, remember to contact your area volunteer fire departments and be aware of all burn bans BEFORE you begin to burn any leaves or brush.
Spring: As spring planting time rolls around, residents are reminded that no trees, shrubbery, or other plantings may be placed within the right-of-way. The road right-of-way is twenty-five (25) feet from the centerline of the roadway.
Fall: Residents are reminded NOT to burn or dump leaves on the road surface or to dump leaves and other debris in the ditches.
Winter: Wait until the snow plow has plowed your road before plowing/shoveling your driveway. Do not park your vehicles on the roadway. If you are on the roadway and you approach an oncoming snow plow, SLOW DOWN AND MOVE AS FAR TO THE RIGHT THAT IS POSSIBLE AND ALLOW THE PLOW TO PASS SAFELY. We also ask that you do not allow children to ride sleds in the roads or play on mounds of snow created by snow plows until the snow plows have completed their job and left the scene.
Emissions from Open Burning
Whether you live in a rural area of Independence County or the city of Batesville, AR, county burn ordinances apply to you. Read up on the regulations below and keep these in mind in all seasons.
Reg. 18.101 Title
The following rules and regulations, adopted pursuant to Subchapter 2 of the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act (Arkansas Code Annotated [A. C. A.] 8-4-101 et seq.) shall be referred to as the "Arkansas Air Pollution Control Code" hereinafter the "Air Code" the "Code" or "Regulation 18"
Reg. 18.602 General Prohibition
No person shall cause or permit the open burning of refuse, garbage, trade waste, or other waste material, or shall conduct a salvage operation by open burning.
Reg. 18.603 Exemptions The provisions of Reg. 18.602 herein shall not apply to the following activities:
- Fires used for the non-commercial cooking of food or for ceremonial or Recreational purposes, including barbecues and outdoor fireplaces used in connection with any residence;
- Open burning related to agricultural activities including, but not limited to, clearing previously uncultivated lands and burning of stubble and other debris on previously harvested fields; provided however, that this exemption shall not be extended to the disposal, by open burning, of waste products generated by cotton gins, or similar equipment used in a manufacturing process or to the disposal by open burning of fowls or animals;
- Controlled fires used for purposes of forest and wildlife management, provided that such fires are used and burned when winds are blowing away from populated areas which might be affected;
- Controlled fires used only for purposes of on-site land clearing operations;
- Smokeless flares or safety flares from the combustion of waste gases, provided that all other applicable provisions of this Code are complied with;
- Open burning of the site or origin of waste hydrocarbon products from oil exploration, development, or production, or from natural gas processing plants, or from materials spilled or lost from pipeline breaks, where, because of the isolated location, such waste products cannot be reclaimed, recovered, or disposed of lawfully in any other manner.