Roadwork planned

Summertime means roadwork.
That’s the case for both Portland, which has nearly $120,000 of patchwork and paving planned, and Jay County, with more than 100 miles of county roads slated for repairs.
Paving in Portland is planned for Main Street between Morton and Pierce streets, Vine Street, Fifth and Sixth streets between Meridian and Bridge streets, an alley between Meridian and Shank streets south of Eighth Street and the intersection of Adams and Wayne streets.
Streets and parks superintendent Ryan Myers said the alley and street paving is a way to stay proactive on streets that are in bad shape.
“We do a drive through town and we see what roads we think are in the worst shape and that’s how we kind of select them,” said Myers.
The $118,757 for the projects is coming from the city’s motor vehicle highway fund and Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne will handle the work. An official start date has not been set and is based on availability of the contractor.
Nearly all of the county repairs involve chip-and-seal work.
The process began during the first week of June, and crews are currently working on county road 650 North from county road 200 East in Bryant to the Blackford County line.
County road 300 North from U.S. 27 to the Ohio state line will be completed next, Jay County Highway Department superintendent Ken Wellman said.
Other major roads to be worked on include county road 200 South from U.S. 27 to the Ohio state line, Como Road from Indiana 26 to New Mt. Pleasant, county road 400 South from U.S. 27 to Indiana 67, and county road 800 South from the Delaware County line to Como Road.
Wellman said the county tries to reseal roads about every four years.
“Typically, we have to do 100 miles to get that four year cycle done,” he added.
The overall cost for the chip-and-seal work should be around $800,000 to $900,000.
“Typically it ranges from $8,000 to $9,000 a mile,” Wellman said.
About 6.5 miles of county roads are being paved this summer. That includes 3 miles of county road 300 South from U.S. 27 to county road 300 East, which have already been completed. The project cost $283,000, said county engineer Dan Watson.
He said there weren’t originally plans to pave the section, but increased truck traffic from the construction of a confined feeding operation caused damage to the road.
“People that live out there will at least have a good road,” he said, also adding that there will be a good amount of trucks on it now because of the new farming operation.
Another 3.5 miles will be paved on county road 700 East between Indiana 26 and county road 300 North. It’s the only section of the road that is not currently paved, and work is scheduled to begin this weekend.
The project will run about $330,000.
None of the work in the city or county is expected to seriously impact traffic patterns.
Most of the city work is on short stretches of streets. And Wellman noted that while his equipment works on the full width of a road at once, only a mile or two should be closed at a time.
In Portland, it’s the Adams Street intersection that needs the most attention, Myers said. A curve in the road causes truck drivers to destroy a yard.
“We’re going to straighten out Adams Street and take it straight to Wayne,” he added. “Right now it makes a hard left and goes to the alley and then you get out on Wayne Street.
“So we’re going to take that turn out and we’re going to take it straight to Wayne.”
Most paving work requires about 1.5 inches of milling and the same amount of surfacing on the roads, while Adams Street is a total reconstruction job.
Pothole repairs are not confined to a specific area, with workers driving the streets and patching holes throughout the city.