MONTROSE — Jeff Jeffries can honestly say he likes to take the road less traveled by — it has fewer potholes.
Jeffries, who serves as the road and bridge superintendent for Montrose County, has served in many capacities for the department since he started working there in 1968.
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Jeffries has witnessed many changes in his line of work, but most of it comes from the community itself, not just how his job is done. He said since Montrose has such strong agricultural roots, most of the county roads were constructed for that kind of traffic, not for the ever-increasing load of passenger cars and heavily weighted semi trucks.
“Things have really changed since I first started here,” he explained. “This area used to be based on agriculture and we did not have heavy traffic loads. With the growth the county has seen we definitely have a lot more traffic. Some of our major roads carry 3,000 to 4,000 cars a day and they were not designed for that type of capacity. We have more traffic and we have more safety issues.”
Jeffries grew up in Olathe and graduated from Olathe High School. At first he worked in the construction industry but did not enjoy the constant demand of relocating all the time, so he applied for more steady work with the county.
Currently road and bridge crews oversee the maintenance of more than 1,400 miles of road. This number constantly changes as the county grows and the city annexes. Roads range in variety from gravel surfaces on the plateau to asphalt topped main roads and native material on the West End around the mining camps. The department employs 42-44 full-time personnel to maintain such roads.
“Now that we have a county engineer we build roads differently,” Jeffries said. “A lot of the older roads did not have very good bases for heavy loads — when they were built there were no semis driving on them. Now we plan differently and go in and rebuild.”
Depending on the season and the need, staff completes various projects, he said. Personnel within the road and bridge department work four 10-hour shifts during daylight savings time so they can accomplish more during the workday.
“We have crews based in the West End but sometimes we have to go over and help with projects,” he said. “We cover a lot of ground and it can take a long time to travel to the projects we are working on. We travel long distances.” During winter hours, staff works the more traditional eight-hour day and there is always a crew on call for snow removal.
Jeffries said in addition to the way they build roads, the machinery has changed a bit too.
“I guess really it’s about ergonomics,” he said. “They build this equipment for operator comfort now. It’s just one of those things I am not as used to and we never had. Simple things like air conditioning. It used to be you rolled down the windows and went about your business. Now, everything is run with hydraulics and everything is progressing. Cabs are now enclosed to keep out the dust and everything is geared toward comfort.”
A typical day for Jeffries may have him locating and patching potholes or checking culverts for clogs. Some days are spent on the plateau grading the miles of graveled road with the Bureau of Land Management. Last week was pretty tough he said with all the strong winds, several heavy branches fell on the plateau, thus blocking roads throughout the county.
“You just can’t imagine all the trees down on the road,” Jeffries said. “From the public safety standpoint there was a lot to get done.”
When he isn’t busy running the roads, Jeffries does enjoy his downtime with his wife Pat.
He likes the get away from the hustle and bustle and all the territory for which he is responsible.
“I really like to fish, and to hunt,” he said. “I like going into the mountains and getting away from the hassle of work. It’s nice and quiet out there, once you get there.”
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