Higher prices could mean fewer road and bridge improvements in Bartholomew County this year.
Last year, 38 miles of roads were authorized to receive new blacktop during the annual overlay program. In comparison, the 2019 program currently calls for spending about $2.4 million to repave about 30 miles, county highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
“Oil prices have gone up a lot,” Hollander said. “Last year, we paid $1.42 a gallon for oil. Some of the recent bids have been as high as $2.10.”
Stone prices have also risen by about 10 percent, Hollander said.
The county will pay $9,700 a mile to do chip and seal repairs this year, he said. That is almost a 35 percent increase from what the $7,200 a mile paid last year, he said.
Roughly three times less expensive than new blacktop, chip-and-seal treatments usually repair cracks for at least five years, and help prevent potholes from developing during freeze and thaw periods, Bartholomew County Highway superintendent Dwight Smith said.
Although there have not been many freeze and thaw events so far this winter season, Smith said Monday that there are still eight to 10 weeks of winter weather ahead.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
