Residents seek relief from road dust

County resident Dorothy Baron spoke to the council at their regular meeting Monday night about the dust on town owned Carr Road, stating, “I want some type of dust control.”

In approximately 2004, Crook County gave Carr Road to the town of Moorcroft, re-graveling the structured road base before turning it over. In the subsequent 17 years, there has been no more gravel installed and, according to Public Works Director Cory Allison, to administer magnesium chloride to mitigate the dust would be a waste of product and money as the “geo-grid”, the underlying matting maintaining the road structure is compromised.

“Cory believes we need to put about $15,000 worth of gravel out there before we attempt to do that and do it right,” Mayor Dick Claar advised Baron.

Councilmen Ben Glenn and Austin Smith examined the surface in question and agreed with Allison’s diagnosis. When questioned about the material showing through, Glenn explained that, over time, the gravel has simply thinned to that point.

The governing body asked Baron if she had approached her neighbors about purchasing the needed magnesium chloride themselves for the area immediately in front of their homes, which is holding up much better than the roadway along the first 4100 feet south of the railroad.

“If you’re putting it on, we’re not going to worry about the gravel,” opined Glenn. The gravel is for…where you see all the mat sticking through.”

Baron and her neighbors had already discussed this option and, with the council’s blessing, will approach the county to order the product and will pay them to spray the section of road to mitigate the dust problem in front of their homes.