Recent road work in Jefferson City has received mixed reviews – from both residents driving on the new surface and the County Road Department itself.
The road work was performed in August of this year, and affected Wickes Road, Corbin Road, Jefferson and Spring Streets, and Depot Road in Jefferson City. County Roads Superintendent Bear Taylor told The Monitor before the work began that he was excited about using a new surfacing product called “Dustpods,” a polymer aggregate material that promised less maintenance than standard chip seal surfaces.
Taylor admits some local drivers have expressed displeasure with the new surface. “The county did receive phone calls and emails with concerns about the work that was done on Corbin Road,” Taylor told The Monitor this week.
“The product is working as intended by creating a hard gravel driving surface and reducing dust,” Taylor said. [But] “there were some issues encountered during the project that we were not experienced in, and that caused some issues in how the project initially turned out. Those issues are fixable, and the county is working on plans to improve the driving surface.”
Some of the issues Taylor mentioned were described to The Monitor by area resident Kurt Berry. “It got really bad when we got that rain right afterwards,” Berry said. “The wetness on the road made it very greasy, and [the materials] stick to the inside of the wheel wells.” Berry said other residents had the same issue, and complained about the difficulty in removing the road material from their vehicles.
“Due to the unforeseen issues we had during the initial project,” Taylor explains, “the surface did become muddy when we received heavy rains after the project. Now that the surface has had time to cure and compact, we do not foresee this being an ongoing issue.”
Taylor added that he and his crews are working hard to try to please local drivers and residents. The county, he said, has met with residents and is attempting to address their concerns. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service to our residents. This is a learning experience for our crew as this is a new to us product, and we are working on plans to improve the driving surface.”
Berry also said he was pleased with Taylor’s and the county commissioners’ response to their concerns. “At first, Commissioner [Bob] Mullen said he had driven on the road and did not notice any dust,” Berry said. “But Commissioner [Cory] Kirsch and the [Taylor] both said something wasn’t right. But at least they listened to us.”
“It’s got to be hard for him,” Berry said of Taylor’s task.
The Dustpods surfacing material is used in many locations in the United States, but only recently has been used by the Montana Department of Transportation. The surface material had never been tried in the county before the work in Jefferson City. Taylor told The Monitor in August that he was excited to try the Dustpods because they promised up to four times less maintenance than other road surfaces, saving taxpayers a great deal in road repair and maintenance costs.
“Once the road is regraded, compacted, and allowed time to cure properly, we do not foresee any more issues with the mud or other possible issues with the road,” Taylor added.
Does Taylor expect the local residents to agree? “The biggest issue, which I take full ownership of,” Taylor said, “was a lack of communication and education to our residents prior to execution of this project. Many of the concerns that residents had with this project could have been avoided with public meetings or letters to residents explaining the issues we were facing with the deteriorating road surface and increased maintenance cost for Corbin Road, and why we needed to try a different path for maintenance as well as what those plans were.”
“I do believe that once we are able to get the road fixed to what we had originally anticipated, the residents will be very happy with the road, and that we are working to find ways to deliver higher levels of services with the resources we have at our disposal,” he said.
