A recent chip-seal coating that produced a bumpy “washboard” surface on a portion of Whitefish Stage Road is being blamed on old county road equipment.

“Our chipper is very old. It’s a 1960s model,” Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said, explaining that the connection between the truck and chipper was to blame. “This is pretty rare and we’re very confident that through one winter it will disappear, that the snowplows will take care of it.”

The county chip-sealed 25 miles of roads this summer using the outdated equipment, but just recently upgraded the chipper to a 1980s model. Prunty said there isn’t money in the road budget for new equipment.

Prunty said he has received a couple of inquiries about the bumpy road but wouldn’t classify them as complaints. Whitefish Stage Road was chip-sealed from West Reserve Drive to the Stillwater River bridge, with the worst washboard conditions on the southern stretch of the road.

Chip-sealing, done every five to 10 years on paved county roads depending on the amount of use, helps prolong the life of the pavement. This year the county spent $425,000 just on the oil needed to chip-seal. Other expenses include the gravel and manpower.

The Whitefish Stage Road project will continue next spring when the county removes the old asphalt from the bridge and then applies new asphalt before chip-sealing to U.S. 2.

Prunty expects fall road work around the county to continue for another three to four weeks, depending on the weather.

The county completed rural special improvement district paving projects on Monegan and Berne roads this summer. The Monegan project won’t be chip-sealed yet this year, but Berne Road was able to be chip-sealed ahead of schedule, he said.