Drivers in northern Union County will see road-paving crews out throughout the coming weeks. The annual chip sealing projects began this week, starting on roads northeast of Marysville. Crews from the Union County Engineer’s Office will be out putting down stone and asphalt.
County Engineer Jeff Stauch said there are nearly 130 miles of road that will be worked on.
“We have a list out and we’ll be updating it each week with new roads, weather permitting of course,” Stauch said. “We have about 94 miles of county roads to do and another 36 or so miles of township roads.”
Part of the work done this week will be northeast of Marysville on Whitestone Road, Lowe Road, Springdale Road and Delaware County Line Road.
Crews will also be in areas of Richwood and Claibourne Township working on Snediker, Zook, McMillen and Grindell roads.
The resurfacing projects will take place between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
Road resurfacing funds come out of the engineer’s annual operations budget and the target areas are adjusted year to year.
Although these funds are already in place ahead of summer projects, the county should start to see revenue from this year’s new gas tax in the coming months. The tax took effect on July 1 and revenue from the 10.5 cents per gallon increase in gas and 19 cents per gallon increase in diesel will come in during the last quarter of the year, sometime in October.
That revenue will likely go to larger projects, but a percentage will be available for general maintenance.
Total material costs for these chip sealing projects will be around $1.51 million, which equates to around $11,400 per mile, Stauch said.
He added he expects the work to last 6-7 weeks but hopes to have a minimal impact on traffic.
“We make every effect to minimize inconveniences as we perform our summer sealing program; however, loose stone and excess tar are always a possibility on newly treated roadways,” he said. “Slowing down on freshly sealed roads is a good idea for two reasons: issues with loose stone are minimized and asphalt is less likely to end up on vehicles.”
He said drivers will likely encounter delays but local traffic will be maintained.
The week’s list of roads is available at www.co.union.oh.us/news and will be updated with the additional roads throughout the process. Stauch said residents with any questions can contact the Engineer’s Office at engineer@co.union.oh.us or 937-645-3018.