Supervisors rehash road project
The Marshall County Board of Supervisors rehashed the proposed county road project that should be finalized soon.
County engineer Larry Britt had combed through three different possible scenarios in order to try and get as many miles of county roads overlaid with asphalt. Besides the county’s plan to overlay some road segments using its new asphalt equipment, Britt also is trying to get as much help from State Aid which contributes monies for the upkeep of certain segments of county roads.
A Legislative System Bridge Plan also helps fund bridge maintenance and repair.
Currently the county has one major bridge project underway funded by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Tippah River Bridge replacement project, which involved the replacement of the old Tippah River Bridge on Bethlehem Road and Goat Bridge, a short bridge on the same road.
Supervisors are also looking at the reconstruction of two bridges, a bridge on French Road and one on Battle Road. Some spans to be taken off the Tippah River Bridge project will likely be used to repair smaller bridges.
The proposal to use micro seal to improve the surface and prolong the life of county road surfaces is all but abandoned in favor of putting down asphalt which is more durable. The price to lay asphalt is much more expensive than micro seal but supervisors now favor long lasting surfaces over short term fixes such as micro seal that essentially seal up cracks in asphalt to extend the life of the road surface already in place.
“Mario (Jeffries, County Road Manager) and I got together and went over the roads he thought he could do this year and maybe spill over to next year,” Britt said. “Most of these roads were listed on the micro seal project we didn’t do.”
Some possible segments of county roads Britt proposes as candidates for asphalt overlay by county crews included:
• two miles on Watson Road.
• a half mile on Strickland Road.
• a portion of Bethlehem Waterford Road from Waterford to Ford Road.
• one mile of North Red Banks Road starting at Yarborough Loop near the railroad track.
• Potts Camp Road from the Tippah River to Highway 349.
Watson Road was moved from the micro seal project while Potts Camp Road was originally set for overlay on the State Aid Program.
North Red Banks Road and Bethlehem Road were set for future micro seal but will now be overlayed by County Forces.
Nailing it down, Britt proposed the county forces overlay either 7.3 miles or 9.8 miles.
“It all sounds complicated,” Britt said. “Y’all decide what you want Mario to do.” The work has to be programmed and bid before the end of June, Britt said, as the election year bar disallows any projects to be scheduled in the last six months of an election year.
Britt said work paid for with State Aid dollars will include striping.
If Potts Camp Road is taken off, there will be sufficient money to pay for overlay on South Red Banks Road and Early Grove Road, Britt hopes.
“We decided not to deal with micro seal, period?” Zinn asked.
Britt said to do the micro seal a lot of leveling of the roadway surface would be required and would cost almost as much as it does to lay asphalt.
“Micro seal is just to seal off (the surface) and fill cracks,” Britt said.
“If you go to the second sheet (of the plan), I hope to do South Red Banks and Early Grove Road to replace Potts Camp Road,” Britt said.
District 1 supervisor Charles Terry asked if North Red Banks Road would be finished in 2023 or roll over into 2024.
Jeffries said it would be completed in 2024, if not finished this year.
District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor said the county programmed 13 or 14 miles of surface improvements last year.
Britt explained that the current plan would cover 7.3 miles of asphalt overlay on non State Aid roads this year, versus the 13 or 14 miles done last year. He recommended the segment of North Red Banks be scheduled for 20232024.
District 4 supervisor George Zinn expressed worry that if the road crews were busy laying that much asphalt, routine road maintenance could suffer.
District 1 supervisor Charles Terry preferred keeping the 7.3 miles of asphalt the county crews would apply this year, yet not fall behind in regular road maintenance.
“I wanted to get this done in this round of funds,” District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor said.
Britt said it is possible to get 9.7 miles of paving with State Aid monies to do South Red Banks Road, Early Grove Road and North Red Banks Road.
He recommended the old micro seal proposal be canceled.
The board passed a motion to remove micro seal from the road plan.
“The only thing being changed is you’re talking Potts Camp off?” Zinn asked.
“Mario wants North Red Banks Road because it is closer to the plant, instead of South Red Banks Road,” Britt said. “That would leave South Red Banks Road from Lees Crossing to Marianna Road - 5.5 miles and from Highway 78 to Lees Crossing,” Britt said.
• Battle Road Bridge
Britt said used bridge spans taken from the Tippah River Bridge replacement project will be available to repair Battle Road Bridge.
The current surface, a railroad car, would be removed, the bridge pilings straightened and then the bridge resurfaced with 10-year old spans taken from the Tippah River Bridge.
Replacing French Road bridge can be put off to next year, Britt said.
The main problem with French Road bridge is it has a narrow deck and there are no rails, Britt said. He recommends that all bridges be replaced with boxes when possible because there is less maintenance.
“I would be in agreement to defer repair of French Road bridge to take care of the Battle Road bridge first,” Zinn said.
He said it will take two to three years to finish repairing the Battle Road bridge (Local System Bridge Program).
Britt said LSBP funds now available to repair Battle Road bridge would be short a little. The fund would have to build back up. But LSBP money could be used to pay for the French Road bridge, he said.
“If it is short, we will be doing it all ourselves,” Taylor said.
Zinn asked how long it would take to repair the Battle Road bridge.
“Battle Road won’t take a box,” Britt said.
He said a set of plans to replace French Road bridge could be taken under development but environmental assessment plans would also have to be done.
Terry asked if the state is still inspecting all the bridges.
“They still are, but some bridges have been given back to us,” Britt said.