On Friday, Feb. 28, the first sunny day in over a week, all it took was a few hours of sunlight for the city streets of Morton to turn from mud to dust.
It was around that time that Judy Ramsey, 68, of Morton, reached out to The Chronicle to express her concerns for the state of the East Lewis County city’s roads.
“That's what happens. That's minor compared to usual,” Ramsey said as a truck passed by her home on First Street, kicking up a cloud of dust that covered her yard. “I grew up right where I live now and, back in the day when the streets were dirt, they were way better than what we have now. In my opinion, it is very depressing and sad.”
The dust isn't just affecting the residents on First Street. Most of Morton’s roads were replaced with a gravel material called Otta Seal last October, and the town’s residents are now feeling the impact.
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, and it is named after the Otta Valley in Norway where it was originally developed in the 1960s.
Unfortunately for Morton residents, their city’s own Otta Seal project hasn’t gone as planned, leaving potholes, mud, gravel and dust throughout the roads in the East Lewis County community.
The Morton City Council was asked about the roads by residents during the public comment session at the council’s regularly scheduled Monday, March 24, meeting, at the Bob Lyle Community Center.
“We have a meeting with Granite (Construction)’s corporate regional manager, TIB (Washington state Transportation Improvement Board), the oil company, the rock company, the engineers, and our public works (department) on Wednesday at 10 a.m.,” Morton Mayor Rick Mead said during the meeting.
While Wednesday morning’s meeting about the roads won’t be a public meeting, Mead said he would give town residents an update following its completion.
“I will definitely let everyone know, once we’re done with that, what is going on with it,” he added.
In a recent report by The East County Journal, residents were asked, “How could city management improve your town?”
Everyone surveyed mentioned the road conditions and their desire for them to be improved.
“The city has to do something for our streets,” Myrna Norris stated. “The whole town is dirty. I have never seen Morton look this bad. It’s a disgrace, and not healthy breathing all this dust.”
On Oct. 9, 2024, the City of Morton put the finishing touches on the city’s TIB grant funded Otta Seal project. The TIB funds high priority transportation projects in communities throughout the state to enhance the movement of people, goods and services.
TIB is an independent state agency, created by the Legislature, that distributes and manages street construction and maintenance grants to 320 cities and urban counties throughout Washington state. Funding for TIB's grant programs comes from revenue generated by 3 cents of the statewide gas tax.
According to the TIB, Otta Seal can look like gravel after immediate installation, but, over time, black oils in the binding agent work their way up, creating the appearance of a normally paved surface.
The TIB’s website states the goal of the Morton project was “to identify the best candidate streets in the city to perform an Otta Seal or scrub seal on and develop basic plans and specs for soliciting bids.”
Chris Langhoff is the TIB project engineer for the Morton Otta Seal project, and The Chronicle reached out to him for comment on the road issues Morton residents are facing.
“Although TIB provides funding for transportation projects, the city along with their engineers are responsible for managing the design and construction phases,” Langhoff said. “TIB is aware of the road conditions in Morton. At this time, the project is an open contract and the city makes the determination on when it is complete.”
As the City of Morton continues to seek options to improve the state of the streets, residents' lives continue to be affected every day by potholes, mud and dust.
Back in Morton, Cheryl Meeks, who lives on the corner of First Street and Division Avenue, has concerns over the streets that stretch beyond her drive to the grocery store.
“I get so angry. I want to be nice about it, but I'm just so angry. Morton is a cool place. I love it here because it's quiet and nice, and I have terrific neighbors. I love everything about it, but I certainly don't love this,” Meeks said, motioning toward a cloud of dust kicked up by a passing pickup truck.
Meeks claims that the dust gets so bad it prohibits her from doing things she used to love, such as going for her daily walks, sitting on her porch or even tending to her flowers that she no longer bothers planting due to the dust.
“We pay taxes for paved roads. When I bought this house, that was paved,” she added. “I’m almost so mad I’ve thought about selling this place. But if we had someone out to look at the house, they’d say, ‘yeah, I don't want to live on that street.’”
While city officials are working on solutions to fix the failed Otta Seal, it isn’t enough for Meeks.
“I feel like we've been lied to, very much so,” Meeks said. “We live in a dust bowl. Who knew Morton was gonna be turned into a dust bowl?”
