Road patrol has led to 150 traffic tickets
Sheriff's Deputy Stewart Smith is constantly wiping a film of dust from the electronic equipment in his patrol vehicle. He keeps the windows rolled up, but fine particles of dirt and grit simply refuse to stay outside.
Tasked with enforcing speed limits on Flathead County's gravel thoroughfares, Smith spends all day on the roads with the worst dust problems.
His presence appears to be working.
"When I first got out there, I was writing a lot of citations," Smith said. "But now that they know I'm around, people have definitely slowed down."
County commissioners authorized the Sheriff's Office to spend about $60,000 this year to hire and equip Smith as part of a plan to mitigate the county's dust problem.
Smith, who works full-time on a rotating schedule between May 1 and Oct. 31, is strictly responsible for traffic enforcement on dirt roads and doesn't respond to other emergency calls, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said.
"We want him to act as a deterrent to speeders," Meehan said. "Getting people's speed down reduces health and safety issues the dust creates."
Since he began patrolling some of the more than 60 dust hot spots across the county, Smith has issued more than 150 citations and 95 warnings.
According to Smith, roads most troubled by dust include KM Ranch Road, Mennonite Church Road, Ashley Lake Road, Spring Hill Road and Danielson Road.
But as the summer progresses, speeds at which people are being pulled over appear to be trending downward. Smith has ticketed fewer people doing 20 mph or more over the posted limit in the first half of July than he did in the first half of May.
Still, ticketed motorists traveled an average of 10 mph over the posted limit.
When the weather is warm and dry, the Sheriff's Office still receives seven or eight dust complaints a week from people living on dirt roads.
"I've spoken to a lot of people, and they're very glad to see me," said Smith, recalling one traffic stop involving a man who lives on a gravel road. "He was thanking me at the same time he was receiving a ticket."
Of course, not everyone is grateful to be pulled over.
"Yeah, I've been called a few names," Smith said.
He recalled one of his traffic stops on Ashley Lake Road where the driver was doing 58 mph in a 35 mph zone. The driver was upset and told Smith his family had lived on nearby land for 100 years.
"He was surprised to see a deputy out there," Smith said.
Whether Smith issues a ticket depends on the circumstances of the traffic stop, Meehan said.
"Some people you talk to, a warning truly does make a difference," he noted. "With others, you see the same vehicle continuing to speed again and again. They deserve a ticket."
Smith began patrolling the county's gravel roads in a marked Ford Crown Victoria, but upgraded to a marked Ford F-150 after the car took a beating from bumpy and pitted roads.
"People always slow down when they see a patrol vehicle, even if they're going the speed limit," Smith said.
The additional deputy is just one component of the three-year Road Dust Action Plan that commissioners adopted to avoid a $29,000 fine imposed in January 2007 by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for violating the Clean Air Act of Montana.
The plan, which will cost about $150,000 over the next three years, requires the county to take "reasonable precautions" to prevent excessive road dust.
The project's main components include adding law enforcement for dust patrols, posting more signs, and completing a dust palliative application. Flathead County has about 700 miles of gravel roads and 400 miles of paved roads.
Smith has served as a reserve sheriff's deputy, a major in the sheriff's posse, and the Evergreen school resource officer, Meehan said.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com
missingmycousin
While the dust patrol officer gets a new vehicle cause the dirt roads were beating up his car we the people who pay our tax dollars to keep our roads maintained still get to drive our vehicles while the fall apart because I know the county hasn't been out on my road all summer. And this stuff was suppose to help with the washboards well we still have tons of them and pot holes.
faithful reader
missingmycousin, why in the WORLD would you think this traffic enforcement effort was supposed to help with washboards or potholes? Yeah, taxpayers pay for patrol vehicles. Always have, always will. What planet are you living on?
homer
PG, Fare well, honorable adversary, maybe we'll meet again in another space worthy of our enlightenment.
somewhereinthemiddle
road dust, cellphone radiation, secondhand smoke and the bird flu, I am suprised that there are still so many of us:)
somewhereinthemiddle
Was the dust study preformed on humans? And who might have volunteered for that one!
BettyBoop
Kintla you are a hypocrite. You were complaining of the dust issue's near your home. Do you remember that or did it just skip your memory??
homer
This is not California, New England, or any other high tax base area. This is Montana. Build it yourself if you want it, the rest of us will help you if we can.
Rob
homer: Good for You! My sentiments exactly.
Rob
.Narragansett.." Rob, Pretender of all that is to be known in the Universe, are presumptuous fools."....Sooooo, the olde "God helps those who help themselves" notion of self reliance is BAD? Interesting.
homer
Bully-gansett, not only do I not care how long, or even if, you live in Montana or whether pay your taxes or not. I'm certainly not interested in any personal information. But more importantly, I'm not here to answer "your simple" questions. The fact that you assume my comments were targeting you speak volumes on your character and priorities in life. By the way, kinda hard to accuse someone else of being a presumptious pinhead, without exposing yourself as one. Also, I hope you get your road. That way when all the people who would not have used it before start taking advantage of the easy access, people like you will be fed up, again, with your situation, and take that road out of here. (maybe to California where your "litigation only" solution would be more universally accepted.)
homer
Enough with the poor me, my hands are tied, somebody do it for me. We all knew a long time ago that these problems were here and not being addressed. We are responsible for our own leadership, and the results thereof. If the "county" was not taking care of its' responsibilities, then maybe the "county" should have installed more effective leadership. We are the only ones to blame.
photoguy
WOW Homer, you are such an enlightened soul...did you acquire your enlightenment in school or were you born with it!
photoguy
But I will agree with you, we choose the commissioners, just as we do with our national leaders, but what is unfortunate, is the choices presented is most often useless political professionals that really don't care about their constituents, but more their political power and prestige, it would be nice once in a while to actually have a person running for office that not only understands the problems with the county/country, but actually had solutions in mind that would work, not just the words they think we want to here! So far, that has not happened!
homer
PG, While I have always been a fan of using sarcasm for it's natural healing qualities, I cannot claim any one source for my alleged enlightenment. The answer that comes to mind is that in a dark room, even a dull bulb shines. None of this changes the fact that your most recent post says nothing more than "poor me, my hands are tied, I can't change the system, somebody fix my problems for me" Oh, you did agree with me that we elect our elected officials, so it's nice to see that some of my light is reaching into the darkness.
photoguy
"Woe is me" Now that is funny, I always enjoy it so much when we have a new personality on the blog, however dull they may be! I really don't feel helpless in this situation, as a Montana native, I do know quite well the solutions that we have available to us...really as far as my hands being tied, they are quite free to say the least, and I am sure there will be a solution forthcoming in the future...however it may come, but there will be one...that you can be assured of..
homer
...as long as someone else does it, oh, and pays for it. "forthcoming in the future"? Let me guess, eastern Montana?
photoguy
Nope, Not eastern Montana, Live right here outside Kalispell, Have never asked anyone else to pay for, I just want them to use the money I have been paying since I started working, in the manner it was designated, why is it you that are against fixing the dust problem always think those who want the problem fixed want someone else to pay for it, you guys seem to forget we pay our taxes also..
homer
Brilliant. You are the reason I choose to home school my offspring. I've never once expressed an opinion for, or aginst, "The Dust Issue". What does concern me is that this weeks zealots have an issue of personal importance, at the expense of the majority. Even though you state you are paying taxes, that does not: A) give you any right to pavement being provided for you, or B) give you any right to access any of the taxes that the rest of us paid. Here's an idea. Since your are so sure this is the county / DEQ's bill to pay, why not just pay to have it done, submit the receipt to the county / DEQ / Mommy, and quietly wait for reimbursment.
photoguy
Well it has been fun jousting with you homer, think what you might...I don't see anywhere in any of the messages posted that pavement was mentioned, all I see is people talking about dust control, and the dust cop. Make sure the kiddies cross those T's and dot them I's, you want to give them a fighting chance when they get out in the big bad world..