The Brown County Highway Department announced paving is scheduled to start this week on Clay Lick Road.
Milestone Contractors will begin paving on, or after, the morning of July 21, starting first with the south end of Clay Lick Road near the Old State Road 46 intersection. Work will continue to the north end intersection at Gatesville Road, weather permitting, a notice from the highway department states.
The road will be closed to through traffic during work hours each day.
Crews will first patch and mill the road before placing a wedge and level base layer of hot asphalt. Once the base layer is complete, the final hot asphalt wearing surface work will begin, the notice states.
Drivers are advised to use other county roads to avoid the Clay Lick Road area during work hours for their safety and the safety of construction works.
Once paving is finished on Clay Lick Road, crews will begin paving Helmsburg Road.
Paving Helmsburg and Clay Lick roads is funded by the Indiana Department of Transportation’s $1 million Community Crossings grant the county was awarded late last year. The grant requires a match of 25% of the money awarded, up to $1 million.
In June, Highway Superintendent Mike Magner said he planned to again apply for another $1 million Community Crossings grant this month.
If the county receives another $1 million grant this year portions of the following roads would be paved next year: North Shore Drive (2.4 miles); South Shore Drive (2 miles); Beech Tree Road (1.75 miles); and Bean Blossom Road (4.5 miles) — totaling 10.65 miles.
Community Crossings grant projects are separate from paving that is funded with local sources, such as money from gas and excise taxes through the state and the wheel tax you pay when you register vehicles in Brown County.
In June, the Brown County Commissioners awarded E&B Paving a contract for $3,118,771 to pave portions of the following county roads: Lanam Ridge Road (4.15 miles); Woodland Lake Road (2 miles); Hurdle Road (2 miles); Spearsville Road (2 miles); Three Story Hill Road (3.4 miles); Parkview Road (1 mile); Hornettown Road (3.5 miles); and Owl Creek Road (2.5 miles).
Those paving projects are funded by local sources. The commissioners also budgeted $800,000 out of the $3 million capital improvement loan that was approved last year to help with paving costs this year.
A start date for locally-funded paving projects has not been announced.
The commissioners will meet this evening at 6 p.m. in the Salmon Room at the County Office Building.
