Weather forces roadwork delay
Drivers traveling through Canton Township over the last few weeks may have encountered orange cones or signs indicating that a road was closed for repairs.
However, Mother Nature put a stop to many of those projects by dialing down the temperature to below 50 degrees.
Supervisor Robert Franks said the township decided to try a new process called microsurfacing on nine township streets. While crews from Peter Caruso & Sons were able to put down the first coat, the dip in the temperature forced the postponement of the second application until spring.
Residents of the nine streets, including Kimberly, Veltri, Kline, Lobell, Laddie and Elkie drives; Helen and Paul streets; and Berthel Avenue, found notices on their doors Wednesday notifying them of the postponement. They were also informed the affected streets will be cleaned with a street sweeper Monday.
“They were able to put down the first coat but because of the change in weather, they won’t finish this year,” Franks said. “The temperature at night must be in the 50s to put on the microsurfacing. I’ve been catching some heck, but you can blame Mother Nature on this one.”
Franks said that the streets were selected for this new treatment because all nine were still in relatively good condition. The process begins with putting down a coating of tar followed by gravel before two applications of microsurfacing.
“If the road is not real bad, this process is supposed to extend the life of the road by 10 or 15 years,” Franks said. “Other townships have been using it and it is also cheaper than blacktop.”
The microsurfacing project cost the township $206,385 and is being paid for through general funds.
The “road closed” sign on McClay Road, off Route 844, is expected to come down next week when it reopens to traffic. The road closed earlier this month so crews from Lone Pine Construction could replace the deteriorating bridge with a precast concrete arch. The crews were setting precast footers Wednesday in preparation for the arch.
Franks said the I-beams under the bridge had rusted out.
“There was no way to fix it so we had to replace it,” Franks said.
Using a precast structure speeds up the installation and cuts down on the time a road has to be closed, said Dan Proch, vice president of the construction company and construction manager in charge of the project.
“If we replaced it with the same kind of bridge, the road would have been closed much longer,” Proch said. “If we used concrete, we would have to let it cure for two weeks with no traffic on it.”
Proch said the new footers have also been set lower than the previous ones, an improvement that lessens the chances of them being washed out when the creek runs high.
The bridge replacement project cost $166,345 and was paid through the local share of slots money.
Crews did seal coating on several streets, including Krajcik, Ross, Steel and Vitteck alleys as well as Airport and Mulberry Hill roads. The cost of that project was $78,385.
The township also purchased a new snow plow and tiger mower that will be used to cut along the side of the rural roads. Franks said much of the township’s equipment is 20 years old and the board plans on to gradually replace it. The board is also evaluating future road and bridge improvement projects.
“We can’t do everything at once,” Franks said. “We are trying to prioritize.”