‘Fix the roads’ | Disputes stall Jefferson Co. road repairs

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson said about three fourths of the county’s roads need replacing. However, he said his hands are tied, but members of the quorum court said otherwise.

“We just want the roads fixed. The people want the roads fixed,” Judge Robinson said. 

As the weather comes and cars go, the roads in Jefferson County continue to get worn down.

In some instances, large potholes occur.  It’s a problem Robinson said he’s been trying fix for years.
“Where they voted no for appropriations, we can do a whole lot more, but right now, the only thing that we’re able to do is do a little bit of patching,” Robinson said. 

Robinson said eight members of the quorum court voted against an appropriations proposal. It would have taken money from salaries to fix the roads.

Robinson’s is echoed by Rickey Bullard, the Road Superintendent for Jefferson County.

“That’s my job, and I cannot do my job if I don’t have the funding,” Bullard said. 
Both Bullard and Robinson said they were making progress paving over 60 miles of roads in the county, but now they said there hasn’t been major road work done since 2023.

“It’s very nerve wracking. I mean, it really bothers you. When you think about these conditions that the roads are in, and then when constituents come to you? I mean, what do you tell them?” Bullard said.

“What about our roads? When are we going to get our roads fixed?” Rick “Doc” Victorino,  Justice of the Peace for District 11, said.

As a volunteer first responder, Victorino knows the conditions of the roads all too well—especially on Lee Springs Road. 

Victorino said that community members have to go into the ongoing traffic lane to miss the potholes.

“As a first responder, if we’re responding to a call, we’re forced to get on the opposing side of the road. We’re having traffic divert to the oncoming traffic to avoid large potholes,” Victorino said.

The safety of his community is what’s the most concerning, but Victorino was one of the eight who voted no on the appropriations proposal because of what he called inconsistencies. 

That vote shared by Reginald Johnson, the Justice of the Peace for District 3, who said there is just no need for it.

“He is not spending the money, [which] is the reason why the roads aren’t fixed,” Johnson said. 
Not only are the roads in the county in need of repair, but Johnson said there are also potholes in the parking lot of the county courthouse. 

And he said the budget has more than 2.5 million dollars put aside to fix the roads.

“I don’t know why he’s saving this money, but clearly there’s another use for it, other than the people’s roads, and that’s a problem,” Alfred Carroll, Justice of the Peace for District 1, said.

The same opinion is shared by Carroll who said the power to fix the roads lays in one person’s hands.

“All he has to do is give his road department, his director, the directions. Fix the roads,” Carroll said.

Jefferson County is working off the 2024 budget. The legislature had to pass a law to end a county government shutdown at the start of this year.