Baxter County’s new king of the road has settled into his job taking care of the county’s roadways.
Larry Carter was promoted from Baxter County quarry foreman to supervisor of the Road and Bridge Department in late April. He replaces former Road and Bridge supervisor Mike Watts, who retired in the spring.
Carter has spent eight years working for the county, including the last three as foreman at the county’s rock quarry.
County Judge Mickey Pendergrass talks about what made Carter the ideal fit to lead the Road and Bridge Department.
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At Road and Bridge, Carter supervises a crew of 40 county workers whose jobs include paving county roads and grading and maintaining the county’s gravel roads. Counting both paved and gravel roads, Carter is tasked with maintaining more than 700 miles of road.
Carter talks about his goals for the Road and Bridge Department.
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According to weather records at KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot, the official reporting station in Mountain Home for the National Weather Service, 8.11 inches of rain fell in May, which is 3.26 inches more than average for the month. That pushes the yearly total to 29.02 inches, which is 9.82 inches above the normal rainfall through the end of May which is 19.20 inches.
Carter says working around all that rainfall has been his the most immediate challenge since taking over the department.
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He says that dealing with rising costs is probably the biggest challenge facing his department.
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Carter says that once you factor in the prep work, base work and the road itself, it costs the county more than $400,000 to build a single mile of asphalt road.
The new Road and Bridge supervisor lives in Gamaliel with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Stephen and Peyton.
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