KINGWOOD — Twenty-four Preston County roads are scheduled to be reclaimed this year, but not everyone who travels them likes that.
“We pay all the darn taxes, and they’re paving other roads that don’t really need it,” said Edward Keffer, of Stoney Run Road. “I don’t understand.”
It irks him even more because he voted for the governor’s Roads to Prosperity initiative to get more money for roads.
When Keffer and his wife moved to their home about five years ago, Stoney Run was tarred and chipped.
“It was a country road, but it wasn’t that bad,” he said.
A few months ago, the State Division of Highways (WVDOH) patched the road. Now it’s been reclaimed.
Jennifer Jo Dooley, public relations manager for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, explained the process of reclaiming.
A rented milling machine grinds the existing material three to four inches in depth. Additional stone is added as needed.
Then a DOH grader is used to put the correct slope on the road and a roller compacts material.
“The next step is to maintain the roadway with stone until the proper final coat can be placed whether it is maintained as a gravel road, tar and chip is reapplied, or if development has added to the ADT (average daily traffic) then it may be black topped,” Dooley said.
“We don’t want the dirt,” Keffer said. “It’s hard on vehicles. I have a classic Chevelle I wouldn’t take on that road. It’s totally ridiculous. We don’t deserve this.”
Roads to be reclaimed were selected based on the number of complaints and the road conditions, Dooley said.
“The roads being reclaimed are typically 100 or less ADT roads. These are roads we would not have otherwise gotten to this quickly; the ADT makes them Priority 3 routes, and we are still patching Priority 1 routes. Tar and chip had been applied to some of these roads years ago with no plan to keep the application current,” she said.
It costs less to reclaim a road than to pave it, according to figures Dooley provided.
“Total mileage of the roads being reclaimed equals almost 46 miles, and the average once stone is added will be about $5,435 per mile for material, labor and equipment. A double coat of tar and chip is around $25,000 for material, labor and equipment,” she said. “Paving by WVDOH crews is around $75,000 for a two-inch layer, and paving by a contractor is around $125,000 per mile.”
But, “I want to point out that we will not be able to apply asphalt or tar and chip to all of these 24 roadways in the next fiscal year. It may take several years, and some with low ADT may remain as gravel,” Dooley said.
Preston County Commissioner Dave Price said he is “disappointed if they’re not putting [the roads] back well,” because he thought that was the plan.
“It’s going kind of backwards, I think, without a doubt,” Price said. “I saw a picture of the reclaimed roads recently where it had rained and the mud was axle deep.”
He hasn’t been on any of the roads yet, Price said, but the commission has had complaints.
Preston roads scheduled for reclamation are Centenary-Mountaindale, Teets, Eisentrout, Cherry Grove-Mountaindale, Seese, Henry Collins, Spiker, Shaw Hill, Mount Nebo/Bull Run, John Miller, Beech Run, Pell Hollow, Irish Ridge, Stoney Run, Mountain Vista/Vargo, Burke, Stone Hollow, Chestnut Ridge, Birch Root, Red Rock, Hog Back, Herb Harsh, Terra Alta Lake, Burnside Camp and Afton.
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