Be on the lookout for paving crews on rural roads over the next month-and-a-half in Bartholomew County.
Contractors will be working quickly from now through mid-to-late November to complete the 2024 overlay program. Crews want to get their work done before temperatures drop below 45-degrees for an extended period of time. That usually signals when asphalt plants close for the winter.
On April 8, it was announced that Bartholomew County had been awarded the highest amount possible this funding cycle — $1.5 million – in the state’s Community Crossings matching grant program.
Since county tax dollars pay half the costs, a total of $3 million is being invested to finance about 30 projects covering 26 miles of rural roads, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
A $2,698,800 contract was awarded to Milestone Contractors LP of Columbus to handle all of the projects, The remaining balance of $301,2000 will allow additional roads to get a new layer of asphalt this year, the highway engineer said.
However, it has taken a considerable amount of work getting rural roads ready for resurfacing, Hollander said. Preparations include berming, which adds a narrow ledge at the top of a slope on a county road. The preparations also include removing all the dirt and grass that grows in the roads, according to the engineer.
One of the most time-consuming chores involved in preparations are replacing older, deteriorating culverts, Hollander said.
In addition, the crews at Milestone have had a busy construction season with private firms this year, Eric Brunn of Strand Associates said. Every year, contractors are asked to submit their lowest reasonable bid in exchange for being given the entire year to complete public projects.
As a result, Milestone has only completed about 25% of the annual overlay work. But with time-consuming preparations nearly completed on all roads, crews are “really going to be putting it down the next month-and-a-half,” Hollander said.
He expressed optimism that all work will be completed before the end of the year.
This year’s overlay list includes multiple sections of streets and roads in four subdivisions: Hamor Heights, Zephyr Village, Harrison Lake and Grandview Lake. The largest projects are County Road 400W near the Jackson County line, Hartsville Road and Grandview Drive.
