NEWPORT-Cocke County Road Superintendent Kenneth Ford says he's open to suggestions on how to improve county roads with limited money available.

Speaking during Tuesday's regular Cocke County Highway Commission meeting, Ford said some roads are beyond the point of being patched as a means of repair.

"Some roads are just worn out," he said. "If we don't get asphalt money, we can't fix them. Patching doesn't do any good after a while.

"If anyone has any suggestions on what to do on asphalt roads, I'm listening. It's going to get so bad you can't drive on them. We just keep getting in deeper and deeper on trying to keep the roads up. I don't know what the answer is."

Commissioner Ronald Blazer suggested that sections of some roads would probably be better off being plowed up and made gravel roads again.

For more details, please see the weekend edition of the Newport Plain Talk.