Highway Department
The mission of the Stephenson County Highway Department is to provide for the safe travel of the general public on county-maintained highways, assist in providing for the public safety of the citizens and the visitors in Stephenson County and assist in economic development by preserving and improving the existing county infrastructure, including county highways, bridges, highway department equipment and public properties.
County Road Information
- Map - General County Highway Map - Click Here
- Map - Road Weight Limit Ratings - Click Here
- Road Closures - Click here for a list of Road Closure - Click Here
- Oversize/Overweight Vehicle Permit Fee Schedule - Click Here
- Table - Bridge and Culvert Program throughout County - Click Here
County / Township Bridge and Culvert Weight Restrictions and Construction Schedule:
- Map - Bridge Weight Limit Ratings - Click Here
- Table - Road Weight Limits - Click Here
- Bridge Construction Information - Click Here
The Stephenson County Highway Department is responsible for the maintenance of 210 miles of highways. Some of the major activities that we accomplish are
- Snow and ice control
- Patching
- Resurfacing
- Culvert repair and replacement
- Ditch cleaning
- Weed control
In addition to the maintenance activities, the County Highway Department also oversees all of the planning, engineering and construction activities that take place on the county and township highway systems in Stephenson County. Also, the County Highway Department oversees and administers the state and federal funding that comes into Stephenson County for use on county and/or township highways.
The Stephenson County Highway Department has been in existence for almost 100 years and has gone through many changes in that time. We have gone from dirt roads that saw mainly horse and wagons to paved highways carrying 80,000-lb. trucks, from a staff of approximately 300 employees at one time to a current staff of 19 employees. In that time, there have only been seven county engineers or as they were previously called, county superintendent of highways. Most notably of the seven were a father/son duo, Oscar and George Hively. Between these two county superintendents, they served the citizens of Stephenson County for approximately 50 years or half of the total years of the existence of the County Highway Department.
The Stephenson County Highway Department has developed a Pavement Management Plan that outlines nearly $18 M dollars’ worth of improvements that are needed to maintain the county highway system over the next several years. Using a combination of federal funds, motor fuel tax funds and local funds, the Highway Department plans on spending approximately $750,000 per year over the next six years to preserve over one hundred miles of the existing county highway system. Please see the attached plan. Feel free to contact the County Highway Department for questions on the program.
Click here for a location map.

Document Center
The Document Center provides easy access to public documents. Click on one of the categories below to see related documents or use the search function.
Categories always sorted by seq (sub-categories sorted within each category)
Documents sorted by SEQ in Ascending Order within category
Documents sorted by SEQ in Ascending Order within category
Township Road Information18 documents
- County Map of Townships
- Buckeye Twp Roads
- Dakota Twp Roads
- Erin Twp Roads
- Florence Twp Roads
- Harlem Twp Roads
- Jefferson Twp Roads
- Kent Twp Roads
- Lancaster Twp Roads
- Loran Twp Roads
- Oneco Twp Roads
- Ridott Twp Roads
- Rock Grove Twp Roads
- Rock Run Twp Roads
- Silver Creek Twp Roads
- Waddams Twp Roads
- West Point Twp Roads
- Winslow Twp Roads