(Click here for the Dust Abatement Form)

Counties in Kansas are not required to control dust on county roads, but Leavenworth County does have a program to reduce the amount of road dust in front of rural homes in the summer.  Resident’s who live along a gravel road can request dust control materials to be applies to a strip of road in front of houses.  The residents must pay in advance for the material and the deadline request is May 6th of the current year.  The dust control agent is affected by weather and traffic, so good dust control is basically limited to the summer months.  The purpose of the dust control program is not to encourage people to build along gravel roads but may offset the effect of dust generated by traffic on gravel roads.

Road dust is essentially limestone dust that is generated by traffic traveling on the road.  Tires grind the limestone on the road, which results in a continuous supply of fine material.  Once the dust is generated by traffic it is blown by the wind.  Houses downwind will have more dust than those upwind.  In Leavenworth County, road dust is more of a problem on the north and east sides of gravel road that it is on the south and west sides of the road.  Houses should be built at least 300 feet from a gravel road to reduce problems associated with road dust.

Many people do not realize how serious the dust problem can be until living in a new house for number of months.  A trend has developed where people become dissatisfied with living on a gravel road for an extended period of time.  Many people expect to leave their windows open and enjoy the country air and find they need to keep their windows closed to prevent road dust from entering the house.  Although dust is not considered a carcinogen, it can pose health problems for persons with allergies and other respiratory problems.