Upshur County citizens narrowly voted to keep the Unit Road System Tuesday.

Fifty-three percent of those voting were in favor of keeping the Unit Road System, in which road work for the entire county is supervised by a road administrator or engineer. There were 6,191 ballots in favor of keeping it, and 5,499 in favor of getting rid of it.

Some of those who wanted to do away with the system and return control of road and bridge work to the four commissioners feel that the outcome was because of the confusing way the proposition was worded on the ballot.

To vote in favor of eliminating the system, you had to vote For. To keep it, you had to vote Against.

The proposition was on the ballot because more than 1,300 signed petitions calling for an election on the issue.

The Unit Road System was adopted in 2002 by a vote of 4,216 to 2,830.

Pct. 2 Comm. Buddy Ferguson led a petition drive in 2005 to have the system abolished, and got a proposal on the ballot. It failed by three votes, 1,300 to 1,297.

Ferguson also supported the recent effort, and said he plans to continue to work to have the system abolished.

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