County offers new plan for dust control

To combat the excess of dust on county-maintained gravel roads this year, the Sanders County Road Department will be implementing a new method of management with a magnesium chloride solution that is effective when sprayed on the roads.

Interested residents are required to fill out an application that can be found online at the Sanders County website (co.sanders.mt.us) under the “Road Department” section. A map of the road must be included with the application as well as payment that can be sent to the Sanders County Road Department at P.O. Box 519, Thompson Falls, MT 59873.

The solution will cost residents in Districts 1 and 2 $1.10 per linear foot and cost residents in District 3 $1.13 per linear foot. There is minimum distance of 300 feet that must be met for each application.

Ben Bache, Road Foreman for Districts 1 and 2, is hopeful that using the new solution this year will provide good and lasting results.

“This year is going to be a trial year with the solution, but we are hoping good reviews will spread and we will grow next year,” Bache said.

How long the solution lasts will depend on how much traffic uses the road and the weather of the summer, high heat and rain are strong factors. Sanders County usually sees the peak of the dusty season in July and August so Bache recommends the solution be applied in the last two weeks of July and it can last as far as into September.

The Sanders County Road Department looked at surrounding counties who used the same solution on their roads and found that it works quite well and is the most cost-effective solution. The more permanent answer of paving the roads with asphalt would cost upward of $85,000 to $98,000 for just the paving material along a one-mile stretch.

Bache encourages neighbors to work together if they are interested so the solution can benefit the greatest number of people and greatest distance of county gravel roadways.

For more information, contact the road foreman in your district. For Districts 1 and 2, contact Bache at (406) 531-1711 and for District 3, contact Lee Smith at 827-3691.