Opinion : I see your city streets and will top it with a country road

The topic of roads is on the minds of some this week. I had a note from Zale Owens who sent in pictures of the roads in his part of the county. "I'm writing in to show the rural road conditions in Vinton. I've contacted Benton County, and accounts of the road conditions out here vastly differ from those working inside the Courthouse. I'd like everyone to be aware that the roads require rock. The potholes are big and many, and some stretches of just this one road have more holes than Swiss cheese," he said.  The photos attached are from 65th Street just west of highway 218. 
Pointing out that "there's more mud than gravel. This is not a level B road. It is traveled frequently by many in the county. If my feet can fit inside these potholes, imagine the wonders it does on our vehicles," He advises residents to travel in Vinton's beautiful countryside at your own risk. Owens hopes that the county will take this into consideration and put rock on the roads out here where it is sorely needed or at least grade the road. 
With nearly 1,000 miles of roads in the county, I'd guess that gravel will arrive after the roads are dried out. In several county meetings there has always been the discussion of not putting down gravel until we are done plowing snow. Plowing off the gravel along with snow costs taxpayers more money. We'll see if a grader can arrive out there to help. 
If anyone is interested in a nail-biting, white-knuckle experience, take 24th Ave. Dr. north of Vinton after the snow melts. The northern side of the hills are just like riding on ice, only it requires a trip to the car wash when you get back to town. If you don't get stuck in the middle of the road trying to go up one of those hills, you win, and yes it HAS happened. When living in the country, and arriving at the highway, usually you give a sigh of relief and resist the urge to get out and kiss the highway when you reach it.
I don't think much can be done unless the county can lasso the sun and aim it at that side of those hills. I just chalk it up to country living. I will add that there should be special tax relief for those living in the country. Between the beating that your car or truck takes, there are hundreds of dollars that it costs in new tires AFTER the gravel arrives, that ain't pretty either. 

In all fairness to the county, when you have mud being driven on by at LEAST 2,500 pound cars, traveling fast enough not to get stuck in said mud, there's probably no way to keep the road smooth until it dries out. Driving through mud is like driving through a mud puddle, it sprays out the water AND the "road" from under the tires leaving those beautiful large ruts...that will hold water from the next rain or snow and just pool there waiting for the next vehicle.
We've got first-world problems here. The city folks think roads should be replaced all over town. The country folks want gravel. Keep in mind that if everyone got new streets someone has to pay for them. Guess who. If the county pours gravel on the roads every time it's muddy, guess who pays for that? I don't know about all of you, but right now, I'm all about let's figure out how we can NOT keep spending money, raising my taxes. 
On the bright side, no pun intended, the days are getting longer. The sun should be out to dry out the roads. The calendar tells us that it is March already, so soon, we'll get back to "normal," whatever that is!
A bit of government 101. Parks and streets operate out of two different budgets. NOT improving the parks won't affect the streets.