El Paso County testing out wheat product for gravel road maintenance
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- With significant road repair needs and a limited budget to address them, public works crews will rely more on technology and other new methods to do more with less.
That process has already started on two gravel roads at opposite ends of the county.
Kevin Mastin, executive director for public works, said that crews recently applied a liquid wheat-based product onto mile-long stretches of Eastonville Road (near Falcon on the county's northeast side) and Indian Village Road (in Midway on the county's south end).
Mastin said that the product -- which bonds strongly when mixed with gravel and applied to a road surface -- has two objectives: To reduce the amount of dust generated by traffic, and to maintain a road's integrity for a longer period.
"Currently, to reduce dust, we have to spray water or magnesium chloride (a liquid salt chemical) on it," he said. "We'd rather not do that. If this product can reduce dust and hold a road together so that it doesn't get rough and bumpy, it's a game-changer for us."
Nearly half of the county's roads have gravel surfaces, and Midway is a common source of complaints about poor conditions.
"I'm considering putting my house on the market," said Midway resident Charity Garrett. "I didn't move here for this."
Mastin said that if the product works as well as he hopes, it will be used more widely.
"If it reduces maintenance on a road from several times a year to once a year, we'll save a lot on resources that we can use for other projects," he said.
Mastin said that he'll give the product applications a year to see how they work.
"Douglas County is using this product but they have a different soil type than we do," he said. "We need to see how it works on our soil, and how it holds up during a year of weather extremes."
The two test locations, Mastin said, were chosen because they have heavy traffic and particularly a lot of heavy truck traffic; that traffic comes from nearby homes, construction activity and a new dog park in Falcon.
"We get many requests to pave our gravel roads but we have too many existing paved roads in need of repair," he said.
John Sherwood lives near Eastonville Road and said that he has already noticed an improvement because of the wheat product.
"Yes, much better," he said. "There used to be a rapid deterioration after 2 to 3 weeks, and now it seems to be a longer time before it starts to deteriorate."
In a related matter, the county's 2022 budget approved by commissioners this week allocates an additional $14 million for road repairs.
Mastin said that he'll decide which roads should be highest on the priority list in the spring, after winter weather ends and a road safety study is concluded.
