June 5, 2024 |
Photo – Carbon County Road and Bridge Yard and Shops – Courtesy Google Maps
It’s springtime in the Rockies and county crews are busing working to maintain the system of roads here in the county after the long winter.
During Tuesday’s Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, Road and Bridge Superintendent Kandis Fritz thanked her team for their work. Fritz said dust-reducing magnesium chloride application began around Baggs on Monday. The road and bridge superintendent said her two most senior employees have put in hundreds of hours of work preparing the county’s dirt roads for summer.
Road and Bridge crews recently finished placing gravel on seven miles of dirt roads in and around the Mountain View Estates, north of Saratoga. Fritz said in total, her equipment operators spent 589 hours preparing the roads and laying gravel. The road and bridge supervisor said the county spent $60,435 per mile on the project.
Fritz said the crews in the northern part of the county have been busy preparing County Road 3, or Medicine Bow Ranger Station Road in Elk Mountain, for gravel.
The road and bridge superintendent said the chemical application around Baggs should be finished today. Fritz said crews will then apply the dust-reducing chemical on other roads around the county.
In 1991, the federal government created the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, or CMAQ. The program provides state and local governments with funding to help improve air quality.
In Carbon County, CMAQ funding will be used for additional magnesium chloride spraying. Fritz said she only received one bid for the project from Evanston-based Dustbusters Incorporated. The road and bridge superintendent said the dust control company will apply the chemical to 43 miles of county roads.
Fritz said Dustbusters is asking for $266,600 to apply 1,625 tons of magnesium chloride on the county roads. The CMAQ grant totaled $260,730, leaving $52,146 for the county to pay out of the road fund.
The board voted to approve the contract with Dustbusters Inc for the mag chloride project.
Fritz said she must wait for approval from the Wyoming Department of Transportation before the project can begin. If WYDOT takes too long, Fritz said mag chloride spraying may be pushed off until next year.
Fritz moved onto her next item. The road and bridge superintendent said she has received a cost estimate to replace the aging bridge on County Road 660. Also known as French Creek Road, the bridge is part of WYDOT’s Bridge Replacement Off System. Fritz said the state agency has estimated the cost of the project at nearly $6 million. The county will not be asked to financially contribute.
The bridge is scheduled to be replaced in two years, but Fritz said she is not confident about the timeline. The road and bridge superintendent said she would like to leave the existing bridge in place while the new one is being constructed.
The board voted to accept the bridge replacement estimate. At the same time, the commissioners voted to pay Dustbusters Inc $533,200 to apply magnesium chloride on 86 miles of county roads this summer.
Commission Chairwoman Sue Jones complimented Fritz on the Mountain View Estates project. Chairwoman Jones said the gravel should prevent the roads from becoming dangerously slippery when it rains.
