Workers begin road repairs in Buchanan County
Apr. 4—The onset of spring brings the beginning of annual repairs on local roads that will continue late into the summer.
Buchanan County began repairing County Line, Maxwell, Amazonia and Oscar Roads, including Huntoon Road east of Interstate 229, this week. It's part of the county's goal to repair 18 miles of road this year.
"What they're doing now is the western district is actually going around and milling the roads," said Bill Brinton, Buchanan County emergency management director. "They have a process where they have a machine that they rent, and it takes off the top part of the road down to the solid base."
The rented machine is a road reclaimer, which the western district will only have for a month until the eastern district begins its one-month rental on May 1, so it's a race for each district to get as much milling as possible done within a month.
"This time of the year, people like rain," Shane Hartman, western road district supervisor, said while laughing. "We kind of hope we don't get much rain during the week so we can move."
The western district of Buchanan County accounts for 55% of the county roads, and the eastern district accounts for the remaining 45%. Roads will be milled through June 1, and then chip sealed until about September.
"We try to put it on a schedule, but sometimes that schedule is not always met just because there's some roads that, just don't hold up near as good as some of the others," Hartman said.
The chip seal process begins with a product called Base One that is mixed with water and spread over a milled road.
"We put it to the ground and spray over this (milled road) like three or four times," he said. "It hardens the material as it dries up, and then we come behind it with the roller."
Brinton said to be careful when traveling on county roads that have been milled because the surface will be rough.
"Just be careful," he said. "Especially if we have any rain or storms that pop up, it may be a little slicker than normal."
