Live on a dirt or gravel road in Spokane that is super dusty this summer? Well get used to it, it’s not going to get better right away. Most summers, the Spokane County road department grades 1,100 miles of unpaved roads. So why not this year? Because of the risk of wildfires.
According to KXLY News, County officials don’t want to risk a blade hitting rocks, causing a spark that could touch off a wildfire. The county acknowledges that this is the worst they have seen unpaved county roads on record but say crews will not be able to grade the roads until they are fully saturated in a rain storm.
For those asking why water trucks can’t be used to saturate the roads, officials say there are simply too many miles of roads and only six water trucks.
Crews do monitor the unpaved roads to make sure they aren’t dangerous though.