Upper Burrell to repave 3 roads in Lincoln Beach, Whitten Hollow, Turkey Ridge

Upper Burrell officials are paving the way to do three street projects this spring and summer.

The township will ask for contract bids for paving Whitten Hollow and Turkey Ridge roads and for some streets in the township’s Lincoln Beach section, primarily Lincoln Beach Boulevard.

Township engineer Dave Kerchner of Bankson Engineers, said paving Whitten Hollow and Turkey Ridge roads could cost as much as $250,000, while the Lincoln Beach work could be as much as $100,000.

He said the cost will depend on the paving method the supervisors choose.

One process is called “reprofiling,” Kerchner said. That involves grinding up the existing road surface, then putting it back down, tightly compacting it, then seal-coating it with tar-or-oil. He said that would address the problem most township roads have — the lack of a substantial base.

Kerchner previously said reprofiling is significantly cheaper than paving with a hot mix.

He estimated that reprofiling would cost about $150,000 on Whitten Hollow and Turkey Ridge roads and $55,000 in Lincoln Beach.

The alternative would be to do the same grinding or milling of the road surface and compacting it — but then applying about a 2.5-inch overlay of asphalt.

It would take about $250,000 to do that to Turkey Ridge and Whitten Hollow and $100,000 to do it in Lincoln Beach, Kerchner estimated.

However, he said using the asphalt overlay would likely double the life of the road surface from five to 10 years.

The supervisors decided to seek contract bids for both paving methods. They will be opened at the March 4 supervisors meeting.

The township has a $46,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to use for the Lincoln Beach project, to which the township will pitch in $9,000 as the required local match. Costs to pave the other two roads would be covered primarily by township funds.

Whitten Hollow and Turkey Ridge were not targeted for paving this year until Turkey Ridge resident Dan Myers spoke up at a township meeting last August.

At that time, the supervisors were getting prices on paving Chapeldale Drive. But Myers spoke up and said Chapeldale was not in immediate need of paving and had a good surface that would last a few more years.

Kerchner agreed, and the supervisors said they would reevaluate the conditions of the roads in question.

Along with the paving bids, the supervisors authorized Kerchner to get price quotes on repairing six sewer inlets on Chapeldale. He estimates the cost would be about $1,400 each for a total of around $8,400.

That would be below the $11,000 legal threshold that requires telephone price quotes or contract bidding. If that cost is greater than the threshold, the supervisors authorized Kerchner to move ahead to the next step.