diff --git a/lasso/roadway.py b/lasso/roadway.py
index 07f044d..c2ac1df 100644
--- a/lasso/roadway.py
+++ b/lasso/roadway.py
@@ -1112,12 +1112,19 @@ def convert_int(self, int_col_names=[]):
         # int_col_names.remove("lanes")
 
         for c in list(set(self.links_df.columns) & set(int_col_names)):
+            self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].replace(np.nan, 0)
+            # REPLACE BLANKS WITH ZERO FOR INTEGER COLUMNS
+            self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].replace('', 0)
             try:
-                self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].replace(np.nan, 0)
-                self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].astype(int)
-            except:
-                self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].astype(float)
                 self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].astype(int)
+            except ValueError:
+                try:
+                    self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].astype(float)
+                    self.links_df[c] = self.links_df[c].astype(int)
+                except:
+                    msg = f"Could not convert column {c} to integer."
+                    WranglerLogger.error(msg)
+                    raise ValueError(msg)
 
         for c in list(set(self.nodes_df.columns) & set(int_col_names)):
             self.nodes_df[c] = self.nodes_df[c].astype(int)