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Road plan presented to commission

Staff writer

County engineer Brice Goebel gave county commissioners Tuesday his five-year plan for road work.

Some of the problems he sees are a limited budget, poor condition of road bases that cause problems with road surfaces, many bridges and culverts that need replacement, road and bridge equipment needs maintenance and replacement, a new building is needed for safety and efficiency, and snow and ice operations are costly.

He plans to chip seal existing roads over four years.

Chip seal is done by spraying a heavy layer of oil onto the pavement to seal the cracks and roadway. Then a cover material is placed on the hot oil, which beds into the oil.

Chip sealing costs about $15,000 a mile and doesn’t add structural stability, Goebel said.

  • In 2020, the department plans to chip seal 4 miles of Pawnee Rd. from US-56 to 230th Rd.; 11 miles of Sunflower Rd. from 190th Rd. to US-50; 3½ miles of 140th Rd. from Sunflower Rd. to US-77; 5 miles of Old Mill Rd. from 60th to 10th Rds.; 3 miles of 30th Rd. from Limestone to Old Mill Rds; 6 miles of Upland Rd. and Lakeshore Dr.; and 1 mile of Timber Rd. from 190th Rd. to US-56.
  • In 2021, the department plans to chip seal 12 miles of 190th from Remington to Goldenrod Rd., not including Hillsboro; Jade Rd. from 190th Rd for a ½ mile; 8 miles of 120th Rd. from Indigo Rd. to K-15; 1 mile of 90th Dr. from K-15 to Chisholm Rd.; 5½ miles of 60th Rd. from Old mill to Timber Rds; 2 miles of Timber Rd. from 60th to 40th Rds; and 5½ miles of 40th Rd. from Timber Rd. to US-77.
  • In 2022, the department plans to chip seal 13 miles of Indigo Rd. from 190th to 70th Rd; 7 miles of 150th Rd. from Indigo to K-15; 9 miles of Remington Rd. from US-56 to 290th Rd; and 15 miles of Kanza Rd. from 140th to 290th Rds.
  • In 2013, the department plans to chip seal 19 miles of 290th Rd. from Diamond Rd. to US-77; 4 miles of Limestone Rd. from 290th to 330th Rds.; 8 miles of 330th Rd. from Meridian to K-15; 9 miles of Quail Creek Rd. from 290th to 370th Rds.; and 7 miles of 340th Rd. from Quail Creek to Xavier Rds.

Goebel said rocking all 800 miles of county gravel road would take 917,030 tons of rock. Gravel costs a minimum of $8 a ton, and at that price, the cost would be $7,336,240. Transporting rock from a quarry to the county also costs money.

Depending on how bad the road it, it could take 500 to 1,000 tons of rock a mile, Goebel said.

The department is budgeted $1.1 million for road reconstruction in 2020, he said.

“Reconstruction involves cleaning and possibly reshaping ditches, cleaning or installing culverts, tree removal, removing false shoulders and reshaping the road to a more appropriate cross slope,” Goebel said.

Base rock, cover rock, and sand costs about $14,424 a mile, he said.

“One solution to the problem of rock and reconstruction is to reduce the amount of rock roads in the county,” Goebel said.

Another solution is to haul in “hard” rock from quarries with better test results for durability and wear. Hard rock holds up better with freeze and thaw and wet weather, and takes longer to wear down.

“The biggest downfall to this hard rock is the hauling charge, which is usually costs more than the aggregate itself,” Goebel said.

Goebel gave commissioners a map of 37 miles of roads he plans to rebuild in the next two years.

“We are optimistic that we can complete these within the budget,” he said.

Goebel suggested the road and bridge department sell two of its 11 dump trucks to buy a haul truck.

He also said the department needs a new building to work on graders, which are too long to fit inside unless the attachments are removed or the graders are parked diagonally across two stalls.

“Road and bridge would like to budget $1 million for this over the next two years,” Goebel said.

Last modified April 1, 2020

 

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