HOULTON, Maine — Each spring, as the snow finally melts away, motorists are faced with a new driving challenge — potholes.
The Houlton Public Works Department has been doing its best to fill in these small craters on town roads for the past few weeks, but having enough material to do so is proving challenging.
On Monday, April 27, the Houlton Town Council approved three bids for various types of asphalt material from Steelstone Industries of Houlton to replenish its supply of paving materials. The cost, however, was a bit more than originally expected.
“We only received the one bid,” Town Manager Marian Anderson said. “The asphalt budget is $200,000. We will plan the work with the funds we have budgeted.”
The town will pay $92.75 per ton for 9.5 millimeter machine-placed asphalt; $89.75 per ton for 12.5 mm machine-placed asphalt; $197 per ton for hand-placed asphalt; $85.25 per ton for maintenance mix; and $23.25 per linear foot for bituminous curbing.
Potholes, like this on Bird Street in Houlton, are popping up around the Shiretown this May. The Houlton Public Works Department will be busy filling many of these holes, or completely repaving some streets, throughout the spring. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
The price of asphalt has gone up considerably from last year, Chris Stewart, public works director for the town, said. The 9.5 mm asphalt is up $2.95 per ton, while the 12.5 mm is up $3.25 per ton.
The cost for hand-placed asphalt is so much higher than the other categories because it factors in the expense of labor, Stewart explained.
“We base our prices on using around 2,500 tons of material,” he said.
Deciding which roads will get their potholes filled or are completely repaved is always a tricky matter.
“I have a master plan when it comes to choosing roadways to pave,” Stewart said “There’s a lot that goes into choosing streets to pave — such as traffic volume, condition of roadway, drainage issues, residential or industrial traffic. Is the street a full rebuild or a shim and overlay, how many driveway entrances and so on.
“While at times the master plan has to be adjusted to accommodate locations that did not make it through the winter months, these locations might have had plow damage or extreme damage due to frost,” he said.
Stewart said the current funded amount of $200,000 was not enough to accomplish all of the paving projects that are needed within the town limits.
“I will be addressing the issue with the council in the near future with some information on our roads,” he said.
In other road matters, the council agreed to waive the bid process and awarded a contract to On-The-Line Inc. of Bangor in the amount of $8,078 for machine-placed pavement markings throughout the town. These markings include the centerline and turn indicators that are painted on the road. The same company did the work last year and agreed to do the work again for the same amount as 2019.
Jacket Enterprises of Houlton was also awarded a contract in the amount of $8,962 for hand-placed pavement markings for parking spaces throughout the town. This too is the same amount that was agreed to in 2019.
