The new 8-kilometer feeder road into Butaw opened on Tuesday. It is gravel, not paved, but it is passable. After two rainy seasons that turned the previous route into a series of pools, that is a real change.
We rode along on opening day with three traders, two drivers and the lead engineer. The drivers said the journey time has dropped from two hours to forty minutes. The traders said they will return to the Butaw market — a market that had effectively gone quiet during the worst months.
The engineer was honest about what comes next. The road is not finished. It will need fresh gravel after every rainy season for at least three years before the base is solid enough to pave. The county has committed to a maintenance budget. We will keep watching it.
