The pavement grinding of Birch Bay Drive finished late on Wednesday, May 8, leaving behind a rough driving surface ahead of next week’s paving. Thank you for slowing down, following flagger directions, and obeying the parking restrictions that were in place this week. We appreciate your help in ensuring the safety of the construction workers, motorists, and pedestrians.
Next week’s asphalt paving will require additional patience from those traveling in the area. Simply put, paving work requires longer delays. Please use alternate routes during daytime hours next Monday (5/13) through Thursday (5/16) if possible.
What Makes Paving Take Longer?
A successful paving operation requires several steps to take place inside a continuously closed traffic lane, including:
- Cleaning/sweeping roadway, ~1 min
- Spraying and breaking liquid asphalt tack, ~15 min
- Laying new hot-mix asphalt pavement, ~5 min
- Rolling and compacting new asphalt pavement, ~15 min
- Cooling new asphalt pavement before opening to traffic, ~+20 min
How Will the Work Be Structured?
Paving work will start in the northbound lane at Jackson Road and proceed to Shintaffer Road before turning around and completing the southbound lane. Crews will work to minimize delays and reopen lanes as soon as possible while following all posted speed limits.
Lastly, please heed these important reminders:
- Obey all flaggers
- Wait for and follow the pilot car
- Do not drive or walk across liquid asphalt
- Do not drive or walk across new pavement without being directed to do so
- Traffic impacts will be greatest at intersections
Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. The project is still on track to finish before the holiday weekend. We will follow up with another update next Friday.
