Some of Mount Airy’s well-traveled roadways are in for a facelift, although the rising cost of asphalt is making the resurfacing projects involved a bumpier proposition.
Those expenses are mirroring the increase in oil prices of recent years, since asphalt is made primarily from that commodity.
This is the second year of that factor creating a sticky situation for city officials when it comes to their annual round of paving projects to address streets most in need of resurfacing.
The asphalt situation caused the lowest contractor bid for 2024 projects, targeting four streets altogether, to come in around 17% higher than the sum budgeted for the work.
That bid of $293,732 was submitted by Sowers Construction Co. of Mount Airy, which was significantly lower than proposals from two other companies.
But it still eclipsed the $251,500 that had been allocated to resurface Starlite Road, where the Mount Airy ABC Store is located; Hickory Street nearby; Jones School Road; and Gordon Street.
The good news is that the municipality stood to pay much more had only Carl Rose and Sons of Elkin, with a $431,095 bid, and Adams Construction Co. of West Jefferson ($589,384), been involved.
Despite the higher costs, the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last Thursday night to award the 2024 resurfacing contract to Sowers Construction, which will involve 1.6 miles of city streets altogether.
Board members achieved this by transferring $58,500 from Powell Bill reserve monies to cover the additional expense, while also allowing a 5-% contingency fund for possible cost overruns.
The State Street Aid to Municipalities program, or Powell Bill allocations, are derived from state gas tax revenues that are given back to communities across North Carolina based on a formula set by the Legislature.
Powell Bill money is used primarily for the repaving of streets within the corporate limits of a municipality. But it also can fund repairing, constructing, reconstructing or widening of any street or public thoroughfare, including bridges, drainage, curbs and gutters and other similar improvements.
This funding is a factor for Mount Airy since it is responsible for maintaining routes that are on the municipal system, as opposed to major roadways such as U.S. 601 and U.S. 52 which are kept up by the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Mount Airy has about 72 miles on its system.
The city’s Powell Bill allocation from the state for 2023-2024 was $386,982.
After funding annual paving projects, money left over goes into a reserve. Even with the latest transfer of $58,500 for the asphalt-related cost overrun, Mount Airy’s Powell Bill reserves will remain at about $335,000, according to city Public Works Director Mitch Williams.
While Starlite Road, Hickory Street, Jones School Road and Gordon Street are now slated for resurfacing, an earlier plan called for a different list.
The city government originally had eyed Franklin Street and portions of Oak, Willow and Virginia Streets for repaving this year after water and sewer lines in streets there were replaced.
However, permitting-related delays prompted that project to be pushed back and a reevaluation of the paving priorities this spring, the public works director has explained.
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