Drop in temps led to Mill Creek chip-seal failure – The Times … – The Times-Independent

The rubber might hit the road, but the gravel never did.

When Lisa Church turned to social media earlier this month to alert locals to a safety issue on Mill Creek Drive due to a failed application of chip-seal that left loose gravel in the roadway and bike paths, the city came under withering criticism from many who saw her post.

Church, the citys communications director, discussed the lengthy project with The Times-Independent Nov. 9. Joining her were City Engineer Chuck Williams and Michael Black, community development director.

While motorists remain frustrated with the lengthy work which was not just a road improvement project but rather a 1.2-mile, 12-inch waterline replacement on Mill Creek Drive from 400 East to Murphy Lane it is motorcyclists and bicyclists that have been most affected. Indeed, underlying the issue is the fact that one bicyclist who crashed on the gravel-strewn road sustained injuries that required a trip to Moab Regional Hospital.

Were reaching out to them, said Black of the victim, a local resident. Were continuing to work with the injured person.

We didnt ignore the weather. We got caught by the weather. Chuck Williams.

Williams, who has been involved in chip-seal projects for decades, said the primary reason the work failed can be attributed to a turn in the weather. Chip-seal must be applied and be given time to adhere to the oil that is part of the process in temperatures that dont fall below 50 degrees.

The chip-seal began Oct. 23 and ended Oct. 27, a four-day period that saw below-freezing temperatures before they warmed up again a few days later. Contractor LeGrand Johnson, he said, checked pavement temperatures. The high the day they started reached 70 degrees.

The waterline project also lasted longer than expected. We were waiting for all that to be done and we put water crews and developers [with unrelated projects along the work zone] on notice to get their stuff done, said Williams. There was still work going on so we had to wait. You dont want to put down new chip-seal and then have to cut it up.

While the chip-seal project was completed on Oct. 27, more than a week passed before the problem was noticed. Things started unraveling Nov. 5, said Williams. That is to say, temperatures dropped too low for the gravel to embed in the oil.

Crews from LeGrand Johnson and the citys Public Works department worked overtime to remove the gravel from Mill Creek Drives travel lanes and placed it in the bike lanes which will remain closed until LeGrand Johnson does the chip-seal work next summer, probably in June, according to Williams.

LeGrand Johnson, said Williams, readily agreed the work was under warranty and next years chip-seal project has already been paid for. Williams said between $140,000 and $150,00 of the $260,000 project was earmarked for chip-seal.

While Black understands the publics frustration, he said the problem was not a debacle, but rather a series of really unfortunate circumstances. One of those circumstances, he conceded, regards decisions that were made. We decided to go ahead and unfortunately that didnt work out. Once finished, well look back and see what led to some of those decisions so we can respond to the public and assure the public it wont happen again.

The city and LeGrand Johnson put up copious signage warning motorists and others that the bike lane was closed, that there was loose gravel on the roadway, and to share the road. We were trying to get people to be careful, but were taking responsibility for this, said Black.

Now that the gravel has been removed from travel lanes, the road will be striped, but that could be a challenge to schedule as there are only three companies in the entire state that stripe roads. They will have to be re-striped after the chip-seal is reapplied next summer, said Williams.

We apologize to the entire community and were trying to make it right, said Church.

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Drop in temps led to Mill Creek chip-seal failure - The Times ... - The Times-Independent