An update on a major street repair project led to a larger discussion about the quality of pothole patching being done in McComb at Tuesday’s city board work session.
Public Works Director Philip Russell said the city received two bids for milling and overlaying Pearl River Avenue, one from T.L. Wallace Construction for $677,261 and another from Dickerson & Bowen for $514,842. Russell recommended that the board vote to hire Dickerson & Bowen.
“These bids include the add-on option for the bridge going toward State Street,” Russell said. “There will be handicap ramps at every intersection on the sidewalk caps.”
The notoriously bumpy overhead bridge connecting east McComb to downtown has been plagued by a series of pothole patches that have essentially turned into uphill speed bumps.
“I hope that we will make sure the bumps on that bridge are fixed,” said Mayor Whitney Rawlings said. “That’s like a gateway into our downtown and a lot of people travel that road.”
The city will have to come up with $183,424 in matching funds for the project, which is being funded through grants.
The overhead bridge repair is estimated to cost $53,400.
“We have up to $385,000 of MDOT money with a 20 percent match from the city,” Russell said.
The bid was a significant update for the project, which has seen delays.
In February, the city had to reject Dickerson & Bowen’s $501,462 bid for the project because it exceeded 10 percent of the engineer’s estimate. MATEO regulations say if that were to happen, the city would need to seek new bids.
Although Dickerson & Bowen’s latest bid is more than $13,000 more, the city could accept it because it wasn’t the sole bid.
The city also recently repaired water lines beneath Pearl River Avenue, leaving the avenue in patches of pavement and gravel.
“So, we get a new road surface, new handicap corners at every intersection and the bridge will be fixed? That sounds great,” Selectman Tommy McKenzie.
But then McKenzie addressed the board and Russell on street repairs throughout the city.
“I see the city out repairing streets, but we are fixing the same potholes and problems over and over again,” he said. “There’s got to be a better way to fix potholes. We must not be doing the repairs correctly, so we need to make sure that our man digging in that hole knows how to do the job right.”
McKenzie said he would like to establish a training seminar for city workers “so they’ll know how to best repair our streets.”
“So, is the work the city does monitored or inspected before and after a project?” McKenzie asked Russell.
Russell said the city has hired a firm to conduct inspections, adding that it is very difficult to fix a pothole permanently.
City administrator Quordiniah Lockley interjected that patching potholes is always considered a temporary fix.
“Every training seminar I have been to about street repairs says there is no permanent fix for a pothole,” said Lockley said, the city’s former deputy public works director.
Russell agreed but said there are ways to make a patch last longer, although he needs the equipment and possibly more time and manpower to do that.
“We need a roller,” he said. “Right now we are using the county’s. We are so far behind in overlaying that we can’t get to the preventative work. We should be spending equal amounts of time in new overlays and preventative repairs, like sealing cracks and adding seal coats, which keeps water out of the asphalt.”
Russell said that even though the city is sending employees to a training seminar with MDOT in the near future, he would work with McKenzie on setting up a training seminar in the city.
Rawlings charged McKenzie with the job.
“Get it set up, McKenzie,” the mayor said.
McKenzie added that there will be others who will be interested in attending.
“I’m sure the road crew in the county will be interested in this,” McKenzie said. “I will try to arrange something with the folks at the Workforce Training Center in Summit.”
The board will meet to vote on these items and others at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in the board room of city hall.
