Love note from Jeff City

Greetings, My Fellow Missourians

In an effort to maximize available resources and to extend the life of roadways, the Missouri Department of Transportation uses a pavement repair process called chip sealing to maintain some of the state’s lower volume roads. Chip seal operations are in full swing and MoDOT has prepared a series of videos to help drivers better understand this maintenance technique. The videos can be found at www.modot.org.

Chip seals are about one third the cost of a conventional asphalt overlay averaging $18,000 per mile, as compared to an estimated $56,000 per mile for an asphalt overlay. Benefits of using chip seals include keeping water from penetrating paved surfaces causing damage and extending the life of the pavement for an additional five to seven years. Chip sealing also provides crack sealing and improved traction.

After years of traffic and winter freeze-thaw cycles, small cracks develop in roadway pavement. If left untreated, moisture seeps into these cracks and forms potholes when the water freezes and expands. As the name implies, a chip-seal treatment seals cracks and helps prevent potholes from developing by applying a mix of materials to the road to extend the pavement life.

The work includes spraying a heated film of asphalt liquid on the road, followed by placing fine rocks or chips on top. The chips are then compacted to make them adhere to the roadway. Finally, the excess loose chips are swept from the surface, leaving an improved roadway that will hold up longer than it would have without the treatment.

A surface may be chip-sealed several times, as long as the road is structurally sound. The process gets its name from the “chips” or small crushed rock placed on the surface. Chip seals differ from a pavement overlay as that type of road resurfacing involves laying down one layer of asphalt. The chip seal process is typically used on roads carrying lower traffic volumes which make up more than half of MoDOT’s roadway network.

Motorists should lower their speeds on oiled and graveled surfaces. Delays are possible due to traffic buildup. Consider alternate routes, if available. Road and highway information is available 24/7 on the Traveler Information Map at modot.org or through MoDOT’s smartphone app which you can download free for iPhone and Android phones.

School start date change to take effect next year (HB 604)

Many young people across the state are heading back to school this week, but beginning next year their school start date will be moved to later in August. With an emphasis on promoting tourism to generate additional revenue, the Missouri General Assembly approved legislation this year to give families more time to vacation in August.

The bill approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Parson will require that school districts set a starting date of no earlier than 14 calendar days prior to the first Monday in September. Current law says schools can’t start earlier than 10 days before the first Monday in September, but also allows schools to start earlier if their school board votes to begin sooner. The new law takes that option away from school districts.

Supporters of the change say many schools have pushed their start dates to earlier and earlier in August over the last several years. The original sponsor of the change said in 2003, many schools started on September 3 but now some are starting as early as August 10. He said that in areas of Missouri that rely on tourism, businesses have seen a loss of revenue because of the earlier start dates. The later start dates are also beneficial to students and teachers that rely on summer part-time jobs as part or all of their income.

“Whenever it comes to tourism in our state, the revenue that is being lost is significant, and that revenue helps us fund these schools,” he said.

Upcoming events – Discover More on Route 54 is hosting the annual 100-mile yard sale on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30-31. This will cover communities along US Hwy. 54 from Nevada to Camdenton. They need sellers and bargain hunters to make this event a success. For more information on rules and locations visit https://100mileyardsale.wordpress.com/ or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverRoute54/.