MUNCIE – It's not as if there's a crown, sash or scepter involved, but plenty of spots along East Central Indiana roads are eligible for the title of Mr. or Ms. Pothole 2015.
And the honor of having the worst roads is not a distinction that county officials in this part of the state want — until it comes in handy to help explain why they're late in formulating their paving plans for the year.
"We haven't even started paving yet because of the weather," Blackford County Highway Superintendent Ken Penrod told The Star Press recently. "We had a lot more repair work this spring than normal."
There's a lament common among officials responsible for keeping thousands of miles of roads in this part of the state drivable and it usually goes like this: Many, many miles of roads, more potholes than ever and never enough money to take care of it all.
Just how many miles of road do counties in the area have, and how do they tackle maintenance of them?
And if they don't have enough money to keep roads in better condition, why don't they use millions of dollars they spend on traffic roundabouts to pave roads instead?
'Deplorable,' 'Undrivable' and more
In Delaware County, city and county officials just released, within the past week or so, their paving plans for 2015.