This past year the council discussed how to do a better job
with the roads within the city. The
primary driver of the discussion was getting roads paved but part of the
discussion included the need to maintain the paved roads we have. A paved road has a life cycle, with proper
maintenance, that can last upwards of 50 years but requires certain things get
accomplished. To get to that lifespan
the road needs to have adequate base and drainage when constructed. It needs periodic seal coating and asphalt
overlays.
Seal coating needs to be done when the roadway shows some
wear of the top coat of the asphalt with the aggregate showing but not popping
out. A seal coat does little good once
the aggregate is loose. The purpose of
the seal coat is to renew, refresh, and coat the surface with a tack coat of
tar/oil binder to preserve the asphalt mat.
On top of that, sand, pea rock or granite chips are applied. This sticks to the tack coat and provides an
additional wear surface for the roadway.
This is allowed to firm up and the loose material is then swept
off. To further the advantage of a seal
coat, a fog seal is applied. This is a
final spray of tar/oil to further tack the new surface to the roadway. The result looks like a new roadway. This was what was accomplished on Co. Rd. 4
this past summer.
A conscious effort was made to provide funds in the 2014
budget to do some seal coating of roads.
$30,000 was budgeted for this year.
The roads approved for seal coating this summer includes the following:
1. North
Birchwood Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive
2. North
Pinewood Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive
3. North
Spruce Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive
4. North
Drive from Co. Rd. 11 to North Lakeview Drive
5. North
Lakeview Drive between Breezy Point Drive and
Weavers Point Road
6. Weavers
Point Road from Co. Rd. 11 and intersection of North
Lakeview Drive
7. Wolf
Lane from North Lakeview Drive to Weavers Point Road
8. Gopher
Lane from Wolf Lane to Weavers Point Drive
9. Fox
Loop from and to Weavers Point Drive
The project will be accomplished in coordination with the
Crow Wing County Highway Department. They
annually do seal coating of their roadways and will allow us to piggyback on
their bids for this work. Due to the
size and quantities of their efforts we’re able to get competitive bids. Adding our work only enhances the opportunity
to get favorable bid prices.
The process goes rather quickly so we hope disruption will
be minimal. There will be more
information on this effort and timelines when bids are received and
construction scheduled.
