County commits crews and contractor to short-term repairs on M44; long-term paving planned

County road and bridge staff told Down Valley residents they will reallocate crews next week to place fresh gravel on a steep, erosion-prone two-mile section of County Road M44 and that a private contract to rebuild additional mesa sections will be put out for bid this summer.

Staff said the M44 effort will require roughly 3,500 cubic yards of gravel, compaction and subsequent dust control; the county expects crews to compact the new material and then place dust-control treatments. Staff also described a multiyear approach: this summer’s work is intended as an urgent repair on the worst sections; the county will solicit bids for more extensive reconstruction and anticipates studying paving steeper grades in coming years where gravel is no longer sustainable under current traffic volumes.

Why it matters: residents described degraded road surfaces, washboarding and safety concerns on M44 and other mesa roads. County staff acknowledged recruitment and retention challenges for road crews, increasing maintenance costs, and the need for further capital investment. The county asked residents to use the online road-repair request portal for targeted issues and said it would share traffic-counter data upon request.

County staff also discussed the chip-seal schedule for other local roads: prep work is planned now, aggregate/chip operations in July and oil/chip sealing likely in August, subject to weather and contractor scheduling; prior-year rainouts pushed work into later months. Residents asked for clearer advance notices during paving operations and for better signage and traffic management while work proceeds.

Ending: staff said the M44 graveling will start next week and will be followed by targeted maintenance and that future budget and contract cycles will address longer-term reconstruction and paving priorities. Residents were urged to report road problems through the county portal to accelerate response.