Morton city staff, Granite Construction crews, Gibbs & Olson consultants and Washington state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) officials are continuing to monitor the condition of the roads in Morton following a failed Otta Seal project carried out last October.
The failed Otta Seal project left Morton residents with roads covered in loose gravel, excessive dust and potholes.
Last month, Granite Construction crews conducted sweeping and rolling of the roads. At the Morton City Council meeting at the end of April, the council approved a payment request from Gibbs & Olson for recent consulting services.
“They’re asking for $7,500 so that they can help us fix the problem that TIB created,” Councilor Jason Sawyer said during the meeting.
TIB funded the Otta Seal project. Morton Mayor Rick Mead also talked about the meeting he had last month with those involved in the project.
“So far, Granite is on board with their region manager seeing the issues we have. The meeting consisted of not pointing fingers at who created the project but finding a solution to the problem,” Mead said.
He added, based on observations after last month’s sweeping and rolling, the roads were continuing to shed more gravel and dust. Another round of sweeping is being planned.
“Things have been done at night so we don’t have to absorb all the dust … Once we get the rock completely up off the road, we’re gonna take some PSI water trucks and we’re gonna spray all the streets down,” Mead said.
The water is meant to flush out any remaining dust. Following that, the plan is to reseal the roads, most likely using a traditional chip seal method.
“Some of the ideas that have been thrown out there include going through the town with an actual three-eighths-inch chip seal, not the Otta Seal, to fix everything if it comes to that point,” Mead said. “Nobody has put that in writing yet. It’s just between the engineers, TIB, Granite and a couple road specialists.”
Otta Seal is an asphalt surface treatment constructed by placing a graded rock aggregate on top of a thick application of a relatively soft binding agent oil. Some consider it a cost-effective alternative to traditional chip sealing. It is named after the Otta Valley in Norway where it was originally developed in the 1960s.
No exact completion date for the repairs has been given, but some engineering estimates have predicted they might not be done until December if the roads continue shedding gravel and dust, requiring more sweeping and spraying.
Mead stated he hoped repairs would be completed before that by August when the Morton Loggers Jubilee festival is held and thousands of visitors descend upon the East Lewis County community.
“But they’re gonna give themselves some leeway because we don’t know what the roads are gonna do,” he added.
On the topic of roads in Morton, Davis Lake Road resident Lisa Alberts asked for help cleaning up trash on the roads along with asking people to ensure their loads were secure on the way to the East Lewis County Transfer Station garbage dump site in Morton.
“My neighbor and I and our husbands have been cleaning up Davis Lake Road … Last week, we picked up 600 pounds of garbage in a 2-mile stretch,” Alberts said.
She asked the Morton City Council if it would be possible to get some “do not litter” or “no dumping” signs installed.
Given her age, 60, she also suggested possibly forming a local clean-up committee. Recently, she had to pick up a 50-pound bag filled with diapers that had become rain-soaked.
Alberts also suggested partnering with the Morton Historical Society to officially adopt the road through the Washington state Department of Transportation, so it would be kept clean by WSDOT workers.
“We’re the ones still picking it up, and we’re dodging logging trucks to do this,” Alberts added.
While she said she was routinely finding empty beer cans tossed out of passing cars, unsecured trash loads being taken by people to the transfer station were the main source.
“We saw a garbage bag on the way here tonight. Somebody probably lost a load,” Alberts said.
She also said that she had recently found prescription bottles from someone who she knew in town, who admitted to taking an unsecured load to the dump.
“He’s more aware of it now. So ‘secure your load’ signs, no dumping, no littering, if the city doesn’t want to pay for that, I’ll order some off Amazon,” Alberts added.
While she was asking for some help from the city, Alberts maintained the main reason she was bringing up the issue was to make her fellow Morton residents more aware of the issue.
