The story about the annual Nye County roads workshop Thursday evening is that there almost wasn't a story.

Only a handful of people showed up to lobby for their street improvements, a far cry from the annual workshop in years past, when a big crowd packed the Bob Ruud Community Center.

The annual chip-sealing program has gradually whittled down the number of residents driving down dusty streets.

The first priority of the program, however, is to reduce the dust thrown into the air above the Pahrump Valley to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality regulations, rather than the convenience of the motoring public.

This year another 22.67 miles will be chip-sealed. It's a reduction from a few years ago, when over 50 miles of roads were addressed. Petitions were due to be filed by Oct. 31 for residents wanting their streets to be chip-sealed during the 2008-2009 program. The chip-sealing is expected to begin after July 1.

Chip-sealing is seen as a far cheaper method than paving, about $20,000 per mile, while paving could cost five times as much. Last year, the county chip-sealed 25.5 miles.

Nye County Road Supervisor Dave Fanning said during last year's meeting that the town chip-sealed about 265 miles of road in the previous five years, leaving about 500 miles left to pave or chip-seal.

Nye County spent $1.95 million on a contract with Wulfenstein Construction Inc. for a chip-seal, fog seal and paving program in the 2006-2007 fiscal year for Pahrump, Beatty, Amargosa Valley and Crystal. The money typically comes from the payment equal to taxes Nye County receives from the U.S. Department of Energy for the land value of Yucca Mountain.

Nye County Public Works Department Engineering Technician Sam Musselman said Laguna Street will get some attention this year, as it lies near Mountain Charleston Elementary School. Carberry and Pratt streets have been on the proposed list for some time and are overdue for attention, he said. Musselman added a row of duplexes were built on Ambush Street, in a growing area south of the Calvada Eye, that will also see the chip-seal machine soon.

Some other areas to be addressed in the 2007-2008 program include Medicine Mane Road, Prospector, Hardy, Beniah, Emma, Gerald and Victoria streets on the west end. Another neighborhood that will see some chip-seal activity is north of Basin Road including Grubsteak, Ingot, Placer, Assay and Joshua Lane. (See list on page A8.)

A few residents still had some complaints last Thursday.

Burt and Della Christie, residents on Quail Run Street in northwestern Pahrump, said they have found themselves in a Catch 22. They can't get their street chip-sealed until it's been accepted by the county, but the county won't accept the street until it's brought up to county standards.

"It was dedicated in '85 but it's never been accepted," Della Christie said.

Nye County Road Supervisor Dave Fanning suggested residents in the neighborhood form an improvement district. They would then pay a special assessment to fund street improvements.

Michelle Bonita and Lucy Karp, members of the Comstock Park Homeowners Association, were concerned about narrow, windy streets in their neighborhood, which they said could lead to head-on collisions.

Then there was Glen Heesacker, a transplant from Oregon, who wanted to bend Public Works Director Samson Yao's ear about the possibility of constructing bike lanes on busy thoroughfares like Basin Avenue. Yao said the Nevada Department of Transportation doesn't provide grant money for constructing bike lanes outside of state highways.