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Chip seal for gravel roads in county?

by Tom Shaughnessy
| December 3, 2014 8:16 PM

I do not live anywhere near the KM road but I use it many times a year. Might I suggest a solution to the paving issue.

Before moving to Kalispell 25 years ago we lived in Ravalli County. Many of the side roads there look like paved roads, but they are not. They are chip sealed. Some of them have been that way for over 50 years. The county graded the roads out smooth and put a shot of chip seal on the gravel, when it cooled they put on another shot. No more grading, no dust, no wash boards, if every third vehicle is a cement mixer they might not hold up, but they have worked well in Ravalli County.

Flathead County should try it. The cost of chip seal is a fraction of paving and the county could pay for the whole cost. Even paved roads have to be chip sealed every now and then. Except for that, the maintenance would be very little. —Tom Shaughnessy, Kalispell