Season’s County Road Projects Continue

At a light meeting of the St. Joseph County Road Commission’s board Wednesday evening, during which no action items occurred, Managing Director John Lindsey provided his usual, detailed update on the season’s road work, as well as potential upcoming projects.

One of the most consistent recent topics at board meetings has been ongoing experiments in chip sealing, a road surface treatment involving an application of tar with loose rock on top that works its way into the road surface. It prolongs the life of new and existing roads by sealing and protecting the asphalt. 

Lindsey and Assistant Manager Garrett Myland have been working to determine which proportions of stone and tar work best under different conditions. Too much tar can bleed out in hot conditions, but without enough tar, the pebbles don’t always adhere. As a result of the experiments, alternative tar products are under consideration for next year’s projects.

The experiments have produced some informative results, but one issue still to be resolved is that of roads that have high traffic from large farm equipment. Chunky, heavy-tread equipment tires traveling at lower speeds have a different effect on the road service than other motor vehicle tires, and the wider equipment wears near the centerline of the road in ways that other vehicles do not. 

In some areas where additional durability is a concern, the chip seal can be supplemented by another treatment called fog coating. Fog coating is a thin, liquid asphalt coating on the road surface that is highly durable and encapsulates the stone used in the chip seal treatment. 

However, fog sealing is expensive. In comments after Wednesday’s meeting, Lindsey told Watershed Voice fog sealing can cost around $4,000 per mile, which can considerably increase an $18,000-per-mile project. Lindsey said it is most often used when there is a township or other jurisdiction willing to cover the extra cost. One such example is a pending fog treatment on Lake Templene scheduled for completion this week. Some subdivisions that pay for it have fog treatments, which make the road surface a very dark black. 

A roughly 25 percent reduction in annual road treatment miles would be necessary to fog seal every section of road in the county that is also treated with chip seal. With chip sealing done on a seven-year rotation, it would take at least that long to know whether the added durability of the fog treatment would pay for itself over time through added durability.

In the specific case of roads with high farm equipment traffic, fog seal’s added durability may help keep chip seal treatment in place. Lindsey said his staff has applied two test sections to see how the treatment holds up. Two four-mile sections of road have received a chip seal treatment, one on Shimmel Road and one on Dickenson Road in the vicinity of Lutz Road. Within each of those four-mile sections, a two-mile section has also been supplemented with a fog seal treatment. Lindsey and other staff will watch each section to see how well the added treatment helps with wear resistance.

Road Striping to Commence

P-K Contracting Inc. of Kalamazoo is prepared to commence road striping work with the completion of chip seal and fog seal projects. Lindsey said this work has become more efficient in recent years through geolocation technology. 

Traditionally, staff kept a large book on hand with comprehensive details about the location of road markings for every road-mile in the county. The information helps with relocating stripes that are no longer present after work is finished. The same data is now also available through a GPS system that contractors can access on their phones, allowing them to verify the correct locations of markings at any site. Lindsey gave an example of a mis-painted no passing zone on Fawn River Road that was corrected using the system’s readily available data.

Employees Rally Around One of Their Own

Road commission staff have been raising cash donations to support a fellow employee whose spouse recently passed away. Lindsey said the chip seal operator is a dedicated and valuable employee whom staff wanted to help. Other sources, including Sturgis Journal Editor Elena Meadows and Yoder’s Market of Centreville, have also either volunteered help with the cause or provided it readily when asked.

Lindsey Reports Long-Term Improvements in Use of Funds

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Lindsey shed some light on some of the measures that have helped improve the commission’s finances over the last decade and a half. Essentially, he said, “we’re doing phenomenal things on a much tighter budget.” In the range of years between 2007 and 2009, the commission’s payroll was around $180,000 to $190,000 per month. Its monthly health insurance costs were between $45,000 and $50,000, and budgets were tight. “I know there were months where we were concerned about balancing the checkbook and meeting payroll,” Lindsey said.

“We’ve contained those costs,” Lindsey said. Despite inflation, he said those same monthly figures currently reflect approximately the same dollar amounts they did at that time. He said this is partly due to the fact that there are fewer employees operating larger and more efficient trucks and other equipment. There has been some loss of efficiency, he said, but with trucks in better condition and with higher horsepower, “we can do more work, and haven’t lost too much.” 

There are also savings from other developments. Employees must now contribute 20 percent toward health insurance costs, and per-gallon fuel prices are considerably lower than they were in the late 2000s. Last month’s fuel charge was around $12,000, Lindsey said, whereas in the 2007 to 2009 period, it averaged around $20,000.

Wait Road Work to Start Shortly

Anticipated work on Wait Road is scheduled to start by mid-month, provided that conditions permit it. Michigan Paving Materials is the primary contractor on that job, and is working to coordinate with subcontractors to get the road surface milled so that the rest of the job can be finished before the work season ends. 

Road Commissioner Vince Mifsud said he was concerned about ensuring the quality of the work by not working too close to cold season, but Lindsey said the contractors are aware of the need for timely completion.

Constantine Road Work Moving Forward as Planned

In a follow up to previous conversations about whether the St. Joseph County Commission’s anticipated budget shortfall could impact Road Commission projects, Lindsey said there is no concern. With contracts long in place, a Constantine Road project is proceeding as planned. Michigan Act 51 funds are paying for half of the work, requiring an equal match from local sources. Townships usually contribute half of a project’s cost through the Road Commission’s allocation fund. However, 25 percent of the Constantine Road cost comes from the county’s Critical Road Bridge Fund, which exists to assist with work that the townships cannot fully match on their own. 

Road Under Evaluation for Return to Gravel

Smith Road in Mendon Township includes a short, hard-surface paved section. At one end, it connects with Kalamazoo County’s 34th street. Kalamazoo County recently milled down that street’s hard surface, converting it to a gravel road. As a result, the short section of Smith Road is now fully surrounded by gravel roads. The road is in rough enough condition that it is up for renewal, and with its light traffic load, Lindsey would like to convert it back to gravel as well.

In conversations with Mendon Township officials last November, Lindsey asked whether the township wished to help pay for the road’s renewal through the usual 50 percent contribution via the Allocation Fund. At that time, they were not interested. He plans to meet with them again to verify their position. Lindsey told road commissioners to expect further developments at the September 16 work session.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.