Washington County proceeds with Vine Avenue overlay

WASHINGTON — A plan to overlay two miles of Vine Avenue, from Crawfordsville, south is moving forward as planned.

On Tuesday, the Washington County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to proceed with the plan to put down an asphalt overlay on the entire two-mile stretch of the road.

The project was on the board’s June 29 meeting agenda, but the board tabled a decision for a week.

At the June 29 meeting, there was some discussion about scaling back the project.

County Engineer Jacob Thorius said that a patching project would cost the county about $75,000 as opposed to the estimated $200,000 to do the entire overlay.

Supervisor Marcus Fedler, whose district includes Crawfordsville, said at the previous meeting he wanted to discuss the issue with Crawfordsville city officials before any decision was made on the project.

“We had the conversation we needed to have,” Fedler said Tuesday. “I think this board needs to do what they said they would do.”

Several Crawfordsville residents were at Tuesday’s board meeting to urge the supervisors to proceed with the overlay project.

“It’s not safe,” Crawfordsville City Council member Tom Conrad said. “It needs to be done. It’s a liability.”

Delbert Long of Crawfordsville echoed the safety concerns and urged supervisors to keep their word.

“It needs to be done sooner than later,” Long said. “That’s what we were counting on, and that’s what we believed.”

One of the reasons Thorius gave last week for considering scaling back the project was low traffic count compared to other county roads. Larry Black of Crawfordsville disputed that assertion Tuesday.

“So many people don’t use that road anymore,” Black said. “The traffic count will change if you fix that road.”

Supervisor Stan Stoops noted that the county did a similar project on Vine Avenue north out of Crawfordsville a few years ago and asked if the current project is similar.

Thorius said that both projects involve laying less than two inches of asphalt. He cautioned that it is a temporary fix.

“One and a half inches of asphalt is a Band-Aid, not a fix,” he said. “The old pavement is heaving. Asphalt will not stop that.”

He added that he would expect to spend $30,000 for crack sealing the road next year after the asphalt overlay is done this year.

Thorius said that, optimistically, the overlay should hold up for 10 years.

“Ten years — that’s a pretty good Band-Aid,” Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said.

Thorius said he would gather quotes for the project from contractors this month.

“If quotes come in over $200,000, we’ll have to have another conversation,” Thorius said.