BRAINERD — With about 42 miles of unpaved gravel roads in Crow Wing County, the question arose whether the roads should be paved and if that was economically feasible.

Crow Wing County commissioners heard an update on the subject during their Committee of the Whole meeting in November.

“With increasing residential development and a growing tourism sector, traffic volumes on these roads have risen significantly,” a report summary stated. “As a result, public requests for roadway upgrades — specifically paving — have also increased.”

Jordan Larson, Crow Wing County senior staff engineer, presented data from the study, which was created with a partnership with Short Elliott Hendrickson and with geotechnical support from Braun Intertec.

“The key goal of the study was to develop a data-driv

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