By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Everybody needs some vacation. Or at least a little field trip. Last Wednesday, the Barton County Commission got both on a brief excursion to some fields north of Heizer. The purpose was to view county roads, or the lack thereof, to determine if the roads could be vacated. The commission voted at this Wednesday's meeting to approve that vacation.
"In doing some research on the roads out that way, there were several road segments that have never actually been roads," said County Engineer Barry McManaman. "Northwest 60 Avenue was actually opened back in 1881 and was never constructed. The other ones were opened, I think in the 1940s, approximately. The commission held the road viewing and, all the roads out there, there's no evidence of any road ever being there."
The alleged roads in question are in Buffalo and Eureka Townships. Northwest 60 Avenue stops abruptly in a field, and Northwest 65 Avenue runs into Walnut Creek on its north and south boundaries. Therefore, Northwest 50 Road north of Heizer was never constructed.
"I think it's interesting people still knew there were supposed to be roads because there's no indication there are roads out there," said Commissioner Jennifer Schartz. "It must have just come down through families, that they always said there was supposed to be a road here."