The winter of 2003 may well go down in the books as the year Lawrence County had a bad ice storm and lots of snow, and the year the roads fell apart because of it.

Peter Sipe, of Tick Ridge Road,

told the Lawrence County Commission last week that his road as well as Forest Ridge-Waterloo Road and Waterloo-Mt. Vernon Road are so bad, he fears for the safety of motorists, particularly school buses. Sipe, who attended the meeting with three of his neighbors, said the some of the roads had been chip and sealed, but with the bad winter, the roads are falling apart. In some places, ruts in the roads are a foot deep. Sipe said heavy trucks traveling on the roadways have not helped the situation. Making matters worse, drivers must also contend with brushy growth along the roadways.

"If this is not addressed now, to get it in good shape for winter, it will get worse," Sipe said. "And then, I don't know how anyone will be able to travel on them."

The Commissioner agreed to send a letter to the Lawrence County Engineer's Office, asking that these roads be given consideration for repairs. The commission also suggested that Symmes Valley School District transportation officials write letters to the engineer's office as well.

The commission also agreed to send another letter to the the engineer's office about the installation of a guardrail on Little Ice Creek Road.

"We think this is one of the worst situations in Lawrence County, and that area needs a guard rail,"Commissioner Doug Malone said. "Hopefully, we can get this done before bad weather hits."

On December 13, 2002, a

Coal Grove woman, Trisha Walters drowned in Little Ice Creek after her car slid off the roadway and overturned.

Malone said he has been contacted several times by members of her family, asking that a guard rail be installed on that roadway.