Walker and Cherry roads get much-needed attention
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
A rough winter left its mark on Plainfield’s few remaining rural roads.
On April 2, members of the village board authorized a payment for and emergency purchase of just over 1,100 tons of gravel – about 50 truckloads – from Boughton Material, Inc., totaling $15,432.59.
The gravel, which was already delivered and spread, was used to shore up parts of Walker Road near County Line Road, where Old Man Winter had his way with the soft, rocky roads over the past few months.
“The last section of roadway that’s a gravel roadway in the Plainfield area… is Walker Road, there’s about a mile and a half that is currently gravel,” said Director of Public Works Allen Persons. “We all know we had kind of a rough winter, with freezing rain events, and it’s particularly hard especially on these gravel roadways. There are quite a few potholes and also some rutting out there in the roadway that needed some work, as far as undercutting and replacement of some gravel. When you’re talking about a mile and a half of roadway, it just takes a tremendous amount of gravel to rebuild a roadway section like that.”
Persons noted that the village was able to save some cash on the repairs, by utilizing public works labor, as well as with cooperation from Plainfield Township.
“I’m pleased to say that the amount is just the amount to deliver the gravel,” Persons said. “The public works employees actually spread the gravel, repaired potholes, and the township actually came out with the grader and helped us out and regraded the roadway to bring it back to a drivable standard.”
Meanwhile, the village is now planning to work with the Na-Au-Say Township on a tar and chip road program, signing off on a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cost sharing related to the 2018 Roadway Chip Seal Project.
The work includes roadway maintenance on Walker Road and Cherry Road, which are adjacent to the
corporate limits of the Village. Due to the condition of the roadways in the adjacent Village section, the Village has expressed interest in partnering with the Township to have the Village’s portions of those roads chip sealed under the Township’s contract.
“The next item is actually a proposal to work with the township to have a chip seal… covering over the roadway to help protect it in the future to help prevent some of the problems that we had this winter,” Persons said.
Persons noted that chip seal roads, which were once associated with sticky, tar covered roads, are completed in a different manner these days.
“There are some new materials out there that are actually a lot better,” Persons said. “It almost provides a barrier for keeping water out… it’s a better material, it’s good for rural roads that don’t take heavy traffic and don’t take heavy truck traffic as well. The life expectancy is only, usually, about five years.”
Persons also noted that for a rural road, the chip seal program was cost effective, and in partnership the village and township can bid the work at a competitive price. The village’s contribution to the program is expected to be about $90,000.
An intergovernmental agreement will be drawn up between the village and the township., finalizing that agreement.