County offers dust control program

Flathead County once again is offering a dust-abatement program for rural residents.

The deadline to sign up for the cost-sharing program is March 26.

A major change in this year’s program is the elimination of emulsified asphalt or black oil as an option.

The county will apply only magnesium chloride, Public Works Director Dave Prunty said.

“The black oil was just too expensive,” he said. “We had people last year who backed out because of the cost.”

Last year the county launched its inaugural abatement effort, applying dust palliatives to more than 24 miles of some of Flathead County’s dustiest roads.

The program will operate the same way this year. The county has set aside $100,000 and will split the cost of applying magnesium chloride to sections of county roads at least half a mile long.

To qualify, the road must be maintained by the county.

Prunty said last year the magnesium chloride, a cost-effective dust palliative that suppresses dust for eight to 12 weeks, cost about $4,000 per mile. He expects the cost to be similar this year.

“We’ll bid it, and hopefully it will be around the same,” he said.

The program is designed for neighbors to apply as a group. Each group selects a project coordinator to be a liaison with the county road department.

“Last year every road that applied received materials,” Prunty said, adding that the county spent nearly all of its set-aside money.

If the county gets applications for more roads than it has money for, roads will be ranked by traffic load, he said, with the busier roads taking priority.

In 2009 the abatement program includes portions of Alpine Drive, Ashley Lake, Braig, Hughes Bay, KM Ranch, Monegan JP, Troutbeck Rise, Jensen, Lost Prairie, Lower Lost Prairie, Manning, North Ashley Lake, North Hill, Prairie View, Ramsfield and Vonderheide roads and Lewis Lane.

Flathead County modeled its new cost-sharing program after a similar effort that has been used successfully in Gallatin County for several years.

The magnesium chloride will be applied during the last two weeks of June.

Residents are asked to stop by the road department at 1249 Willow Glen Drive in Kalispell to pick up application forms. Prunty said letters will be sent to last year’s project coordinators.

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com