Why U.S. 31 is bumpier now than before being resurfaced.
By Diana Fairbanks
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 at 12:57 p.m.
Read more: Local, State, Economy, U.S. 31, Repairs, Road, Mdot, Elmers, Fact Finder, Diana Fairbanks
These days everyone is keeping a close eye on how they spend their money, and how the government is spending its money.
In a previous Fact Finder Report, we told you about a road construction project in Interlochen in Grand Traverse County. Well, the project is complete, but some drivers are saying the road is worse now than it was before.
Why, what's being done about it, and who's paying for it?
The answers in tonight's Fact Finder Report.
Eric Abramczyk works in Interlochen and drives U.S. 31 nearly everyday. And for weeks while crews resurfaced the road as part of an $800,000 preventative maintenance project, Eric, like many other drivers had to sit and wait.
Diana asks, "How long would you have to wait?"
Driver Eric Abramczyk replies, "Too long usually, 20 minutes to a half hour."
But even though the road wasn't too bad to begin with, many drivers were willing to wait, thinking it would be even better when it was finished. The problem is, crews are long gone, and the road isn't smoother now.
Abramcyzk says, "I think they could have used the money for a much better cause rather than a road that's still bumpy."
And a lot of viewers echo those concerns.
While it's hard to see on camera, it's easy to feel when you're driving this newly resurfaced stretch of U.S. 31: lots of little bumps dotting the drive adding up to a big annoyance.
I contacted the Michigan Department of Transportation and Elmer's the contractor who completed project for answers.
The first question, what is it?
Elmer's Marketing Director Tonya Wildfong says, "It's tack. The bumps on the road are not actually bumps in the road."
Tack is basically the glue that binds the old asphalt to the new asphalt. But Wildfong says it can build up on the work truck's tires, and can come off in globs, that lead to a bumpy drive for motorists. And while it's not rare, it is more evident in a project of this size.
Wildfong says "it happens quite a lot when you have long paving projects, large areas that are open and it had to be with traffic control on a large project like this one."
And cleaning it up isn't complicated. A machine basically scrapes off the globs of tack.
Wildfong says, "We do it throughout the project and there's usually a clean up that we do to close out the project but unfortunately the weather hasn't cooperated for us to do that."
Our unusually rainy fall has caused Elmer's to postpone the final clean up. But it is included in the cost of the project, so scraping up those globs of tack won't cost the state any additional money. And Elmer's hopes to have it complete sooner rather than later.
Wildfong says, "We're hoping to get out there soon, for sure before November 15th. That's our closeout date, as soon as possible weather permitting."
So what do you think about this? Do you have something you'd like us to look into for you? Leave your comments below.
