Commissioners push to expand chip seal and explore local rock procurement to speed road preservation

Franklin County commissioners on April 13 discussed steps to increase pavement preservation and lower costs by pre-purchasing crushed rock and seeking expedited permitting for local crushing operations.

Commissioners noted Franklin County maintains roughly 1,000 miles of road — about 600 paved and 400 gravel — and said current chip-seal work has fallen from nearly 100 miles per year formerly to about 25–30 miles in a typical year. One commissioner said the county should "start just considering, starting to think about it" and proposed goals such as paving one to two miles per year while increasing chip-seal preservation by two to four times.

County leaders discussed arranging to process and stockpile rock at local sites and coordinating with nearby government crushing operations when available. One commissioner suggested seeking a streamlined permitting option to ‘‘have an expedited process for permitting from the Department of Ecology for crushing rock’’ so the county could process tens of thousands of tons and build inventory at lower cost.

Public comment at the meeting urged balance between road maintenance and other county priorities and highlighted the coverage area deputies must serve when considering public-safety budgets.

Ending: Commissioners directed staff to continue planning, look for rock sources, and evaluate preservation versus paving options for inclusion in future budget discussions.