The Camp Verde Town Council approved a contractor to complete a pavement restoration project on Montezuma Castle Highway at its Aug. 18 meeting.
The town will be replacing the pavement on two portions of Montezuma Castle Highway. The first section is around the highway’s intersection with Camp Lincoln Road near Camp Verde Elementary School. The second stretch will start just north of the area where the highway crosses the Verde River via Black Bridge.
Both sections of the road have progressively gotten more rough and damaged because of what the town says is an over-saturation of oil caused by their attempts at a cold mix repair and the preparation for a chip seal within the same year. That, combined with extreme heat conditions and the amount of traffic that stretch receives, has caused the asphalt to break down over time.
To manage the issue, the town has tried to repair the road by patching it with recycled and cold mix asphalt, but their efforts have had little success and the area continues to be notoriously difficult for staff to maintain and drive on.
“We’ve already spent $534,000, and it’s an obstacle course to get to my house,” Council Member Jackie Baker said at the council’s Feb. 17 meeting.
Because their previous efforts have not been enough to fix the road, the asphalt will need to be completely milled down and the road repaved. The town only plans to repave around 1,534 square yards along the northbound travel lane near the school complex and about 1,334 square yards of the northbound lane past Black Bridge.
Once the paving portion of the project is complete, they will also need to restripe both areas. Additionally, they will be striping around the school complex on Apache Trail, Garner Lane and Camp Lincoln Road.
The contractor chosen to complete the project is Asphalt Paving and Supply Inc., which the town has previously contracted with for projects. Only two contractors were interested in the project, and Asphalt Paving and Supply Inc. was the only one to actually put in a bid on the project.
The town estimated the restoration should cost around $76,000 but budgeted a maximum of $110,000 in case of any unforeseen extra expenses that may come up. The project will be paid for through the Arizona Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding the city received.
The council initially authorized the project and allotted the budget for it at its Feb. 17 council meeting. The council voted unanimously to approve Asphalt Paving and Supply Inc. as the contractor for the project.
