Last week a J.L. Storedahl & Sons dump truck working on the Yacolt Mountain Quarry blew through a stop sign and off a cliff on Kelly Road due to brakes that were out of adjustment. The accident has once again sparked local resident complaints that the company has reckless road behavior
When a J.L. Storedahl & Sons dump truck traveling on Kelly Road in Yacolt blew through a stop sign and off the side of the road into a ditch last week, residents of the area were quick to say, “I told you so.”
Yacolt residents who live along or near Kelly and Gabriel roads have been tussling with J.L. Storedahl & Sons, a Kelso-based mining company, for years. The company operates the Yacolt Mountain Quarry and are constantly hauling gravel with large dump trucks from the quarry site to state Route 503 and back. Those roads (Kelly and Gabriel) are two lanes, windy, and not very wide. The road conditions aren’t what has primarily infuriated residents all this time. Instead, it’s their feeling that the company blatantly disregards safety.
“I see them (trucks) out my window everyday,” said Louise White, who lives right next to Kelly Road. “All the time I see them not coming to complete stops, speeding, and driving way too close together. I don’t know why they think they need to drive like that. It must be to make more money. Why else would they?”
The speed limits for the roads are 50 mph. On multiple occasions, disgruntled area residents have voiced their concerns loud enough that the county has responded with some changes. Back in 2011, a 35-mph speed advisory was put up in one section of Kelly Road. Again in 2015, the county responded to ongoing complaints about the roads by restriping the lanes.
Following the wreck last week, complaints are circling at a high rate once again in Yacolt even though nobody was injured, including the driver. It’s the potential for a bigger and more serious accident that matters to them.
“I haven’t talked to anyone who isn’t upset,” said White. “School buses go up and down these same roads every day. What if that truck had plowed right through one and knocked it off the edge too? It’s crazy.”
According to the Clark County Sheriff's Office, the accident isn’t something better road conditions could have avoided. Spokesman Sgt. Fred Neiman said the investigating deputies found that the truck’s brakes were out of adjustment. But for White and others, an equipment malfunction still isn’t a good enough excuse, and in fact it ties back into their overarching problem with J.L. Storedahl & Sons — the allegations that they’re being reckless drivers.
“I don’t know much about trucks, but I would assume when you’re carrying as much weight as they are, and you’re going that fast downhill, it’s probably a lot easier for the brakes to give out,” said White.
The Reflector made contact with J.L. Storedahl & Sons to talk about the accident and all of the complaints, but management simply said “no comment.”
