The Marshall County Highway Department has been paving on 12B Road over the last week and is almost complete with just one lane to go from King to Elm Roads.
Highway Superintendent Jason Peters said, “Due to the weather our approach has changed somewhat.” The rest of this week the county highway will be focusing on reclaimed roads, which are about three week behind schedule due to the weather.
The reclaimed roads the county will be working on are: Pine Road from US 6 to 3rd Road; Thorn Road from US 6 to the county line; 1C Road from Union Road to Thorn Road; 4B Road from Thorn Road to Underwood Road; 5th Road from Plymouth LaPorte Trail to Union Road and Pine Road North of 13th Road. Peters said crews started to seal these roads on Tuesday and continue to work on them the rest of this week. Due to the chip and sealing process road closures will be required.
First step is priming the surface. During this process a prime will be sprayed and a layer of aggregate will be spread over to allow traffic to travel on it right after. Drivers should drive slowly after this process, and avoid spinning tires on it. During this process road will look very dark, like it is bleeding through which it is, this is a dust control emulsion and tires may pick up stone and flip them up. It was suggested drivers travel around 20 mph and under. After all roads have had this process complete, road will be swept of loose stone and a second layer of chip and seal will be applied.
Once all work is completed over the next few week Peters asks drivers to try to keep speed at about 20 mph as this will help knead stone in place and also help from dislodging stone from the emulsion and allow proper cure.
The highway superintendent asks drivers to please try and avoid any of the road closure areas when posted. If drivers need to get through he asks them to please be patient.
