Grand Traverse County targets ailing roads

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY
bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

June 16, 2009 06:50 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- Grand Traverse County will go with an old-school approach to patch crumbling roads it can't afford to pave.

The county's road commission started work with East Duck Lake and Rasho roads, and this week plans to use the technique, called seal-patching, to fix the worst sections of Holiday Road.

Residents who live on or travel the roads are pleased something's finally being done to fix those stretches.

"It's not the greatest, but it is better than it was. I don't feel like I'm going to lose a wheel in a hole anymore," said Carol Corpe, who lives on Rasho Road.

Seal-patching is a variation of chip-sealing roads, in which a truck sprays a layer of hot liquid tar on the road. Stone chips then are applied. Seal-patching is done by hand. Workers apply several layers to fill holes and valleys between previous pothole patches.

Road Commissioner Dave Taylor spent 35 years in the chip-sealing business and convinced commission employees to give the technique a try. He said tar fills cracks in existing pavement to stop further deterioration and it locks in previous pothole patches.

"It's not going to be perfect when you're done, but it is going to be better," Taylor said. "I think it's going to be a good temporary fix for Holiday Road."

Taylor hit the road with crews on their first day to give chip-sealing pointers and said he came away impressed.

"These guys are hard workers; we spread almost two truckloads of stone by hand, and that's a lot of work for three or four guys shoveling," he said.

Road Commission Manager Mary Gillis said chip-sealing patches should hold better than filling with traditional pothole material. Pothole fill is expensive and often has to be replaced twice a year.

"It's basically costing us a fortune to fix potholes," Gillis said. "I think (seal-patching) is going to hold spotty areas that are pretty bad together for a couple of years."

There's no shortage of roads in need of maintenance, Gillis said, but road repair funding is limited and labor intensive. Crews will focus on local collector and primary county roads that carry the most traffic when they finish Holiday Road, she said.

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