Annual paving program gets Board’s approval & MDOT doing paving work in Clinton

By Randy Bell

Clinton plans to spend $1 million this year to pave almost four miles of streets. The Board of Aldermen voted to advertise for bids at its meeting April 7. But the price of oil may determine how much asphalt is actually put down. The material is a by-product of the crude oil refining process, and asphalt becomes more expensive when oil prices go up.

Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen says paving contractors have told him that prices could increase by ten to twelve per cent compared to what asphalt cost last year, and Owen says that’s not the only factor which could make this paving job more costly.

“Most all of the streets are requiring milling,” he says. “They’ve got curbs and gutters and have to be milled in order to put the inch and a half [of asphalt] down.”

There’s been no change in the way the City selects the streets to be paved.

“Same as it’s always been,” Owen points out. A Public Works Department employee surveys Clinton’s 185 miles of streets every year and rates them from one to ten based on certain categories, including cracks and potholes.

The City believes that having one set of eyes looking at all the streets ensures an objective process.

“The same person drives the streets and rates the streets,” he says. “That way, all the streets are rated without bias.”

The rankings of the streets under consideration to be paved doesn’t change much from year to year, except for removing the ones which are selected, but Owen says it’s possible that a street’s condition could deteriorate to the point that it jumps ahead of another street on the list.

He says, “That typically doesn’t happen, but it has happened on occasion.”

Should oil prices fall dramatically soon, it’s possible that the paving plans could be expanded.

“If that’s the case, then I’m assuming the Board would give us permission to add streets,” Owen says. “And typically, what we do there is go to the next street in line, as long as it’s not a street that’s three miles long which you couldn’t do for the money that was left over.”

The Board is expected to approve a paving contract at its May 19 meeting, and the work should get underway shortly after that.

List of streets which are currently scheduled to be paved by the City of Clinton this year:

• Pinehaven Place From Pinehaven Road to dead end
• Tulane Drive From Springridge Road to dead end
• Crest View Drive From Cedar Hill Drive to dead end
• Lakeridge Cove From Lakeridge Lane to cul-de-sac
• Alexandria Court From Middleton Place to Charleston Avenue
• Briarwood Drive From Normandy to Tanglewood Drive
• Cherry Ridge Drive From Cherry Stone Circle to Cherry Stone Circle
• Crosskeys Drive From Stonegate Drive to Indian Mound
• Dove Way Circle From Pheasant Run to cul-de-sac
• Dunton Road From railroad to Mallory Street
• Dunton Road From Mallory Street to Hillcrest Drive
• Glen Auburn Drive From Oak Meadows Drive to cul-de-sac
• Glendale Street From Larado Drive to Lovett Street

MDOT doing paving work in Clinton

By Randy Bell

There’s new asphalt on Clinton’s Springridge Road between I-20 and Highway 80, thanks to the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). The work, which was done at night to avoid traffic disruptions on the busy street, is part of an $8.6 million contract with APAC MS/TN that also includes resurfacing of I-20 between Highway 18 and the Natchez Trace and paving portions of Clinton-Raymond Road, according to MDOT Public Information Officer David Kenney.

“Work on Springridge includes repaving within state-maintained limits, upgrading guardrails and putting in new permanent stripe,” Kenney wrote in an email.

On the other side of the interstate, a portion of Springridge between I-20 and Woodchase Drive was repaved last year using money from a $1.35 million federal Surface Transportation Block Grant administered by MDOT. That grant, along with a local match, also covered the resurfacing of Clinton Boulevard from College Street/Mt. Salus Drive to Shaw Road.

This year, Clinton will again compete with other local communities, hoping to get a similar grant to repave the two-lane portion of Pinehaven Drive from north of Arrow Drive to Williamson Road. The City offered a thirty per cent match for the $1.62 million project.

A decision on the application will be made in May.