Bradford is looking to smooth over issues with gravel roads, and some councillors want to fast track the work.
Committee of the whole recommended Nov. 7 that council endorse the Gravel Road Conversion Framework to convert some of the town’s gravel roads to paved surfaces.
A report by Matthew Simurda, the town’s project manager – asset management, explained that upgrading certain gravel roads to either tar and chip or hot-mix asphalt will make them more resilient to wear and tear, which could reduce the long-term costs of maintenance.
“Gravel road lifecycle maintenance is more expensive per kilometre than the cost for asphalt road maintenance, however, there are none of the up-front capital costs that are associated with asphalt conversion,” he said in the report.
That report determined the town operates 564 lane-kilometres of roads, with 78 per cent already paved, and 12 per cent remaining gravel. The remaining 10 per cent have basic surface treatments.
The order in which gravel roads are planned to be upgraded is based on a number of factors including: traffic priority, upfront costs compared to long-term savings, risk management and potential inclusion in capital improvement plans.
Traffic priority is also based on multiple factors including traffic volume, heavy truck traffic, surface conditions and the number of driveways.
Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik expressed concern over some of the traffic counts in the report.
“I live there; Line 4 on the other side of (County Road) 27 does not have 263 tucks a day. It’s just not possible,” he said.
Simurda clarified that the counts were performed using traffic recorders for seven days at a time in three seasons, for a total of 21 days of traffic counts averaged per road.
“Trucks are everything from buses to anything big,” Simurda said, noting he would review the data. “Something is triggering it.”
Verkaik also suggested that if the cost savings were greater than the cost of borrowing then the town should consider a debenture to pay for the work, and Mayor James Leduc agreed.
“It would the biggest one tangible thing that we can show our residents that we’re trying to move forward with paving our roads,” he said.
In the report, Simurda cautioned that some gravel roads probably aren’t worth upgrading, especially those dead-end roads that do not serve as access to properties.
“There is nothing wrong with a good gravel road. Properly maintained, a gravel road can serve general traffic adequately for many years,” he said in the report.
Simurda goes on to warn that even those roads which are worth upgrading could require more work than just paving, such as drainage improvements (ditching and culverts), guide rails, base repair or improvements, soil and/or slope stabilization, and widening.
Based on the criteria listed in the framework and the data currently available, five road segments would be eligible for conversion:
- Jane Street south of Tornado Drive; truck volume threshold above 10 per cent and 30 average daily traffic flow (ADT)
Estimated cost for resurfacing: $388,800 - Line 3 west of County Road 27 to the town limit; truck volume threshold above 10 per cent and 30 ADT
Estimated cost for resurfacing: $322,200 - Line 4 between County Road 27 to the town limit; ADT exceeds 200, truck volume threshold above 10 per cent
Estimated cost for reconstruction and widening: $760,700 - Line 6 between County Road 27 to the town limit; ADT exceeds 200, truck volume threshold above 10 per cent
Estimated cost of resurfacing: $322,200 - Simcoe Road south of Canal Road to Tornado Drive; truck volume exceeds 10 per cent and 30 ADT
Estimated resurfacing cost: $542,600
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
