Everyone who drives has experienced it – the horrible feeling of riding down the road when a pothole suddenly catches the tire out of nowhere. The car jolts – and then a heart wrenching “crunch” sounds is heard from beneath the floorboard. Unfortunately, even though they are detrimental to vehicles, potholes can be hard to spot until it’s too late.

Fixing potholes is something that should be a part of regular road maintenance, yet they are often neglected. This is sometimes due to the location of the road. If a road crosses between city and county lines, it can be difficult for community leaders to determine who has the responsibility to maintain that road.

To help solve this problem, it was announced to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday by County Engineer Les Dungan that he has been working closely with Picayune to develop an inter-local agreement. That agreement will help determine who is responsible to maintain roads such as Jackson Landing Road and Union School Road, which run along the municipal and county border.

Determining exactly which entity has charge of a road is important for its upkeep and maintenance. For instance, why would Picayune expend money from its budget to upkeep a road that may or may not fall within its boundary?

Conducting work on a road that is the county’s responsibility would lead to the loss of valuable time and resources that the city could put toward other infrastructure projects.

Because of this, if there is confusion by both parties as to who is in charge of maintaining a certain road, no work will ever be done and the situation will only worsen.

For the benefit of local residents and travelers alike, city and county governmental entities should continue to work together to ensure local roads are safe for everyone.