More problems with re-paving project?

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tags:

local/state

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Drivers are reporting more problems with the Glenwood Avenue re-paving project, which could mean higher costs and even longer delays.

The repaving of Glenwood Avenue was supposed to be done by mid-June, but it has been pushed to mid-September at the earliest.

The delays were caused after crews said they had to remove 50-years-old concrete and old trolley tracks near Five Points.

The project was supposed to cost less than $2 million, but it's at $2.5 million and climbing.

Now, the latest problem popping up in the project has drivers feeling the pain, because of new bumps in the road.

"It's really bumpy," taxpayer Patrick Murphy said. "It's just, sometimes it throws the CD player and makes it skip."

"It just feels like you're on some sort of ride at the State Fair instead of on a newly paved road," driver Tricia Koeleveld said.

The newly paved portion stretches from Woman's Club Drive to just beyond the Carolina Country Club.

The bumps caught the North Carolina Department of Transportation and contractors by surprise too.

"It was difficult we'd come out here and see bumps one day and the next day we'd pave not have any bumps, NCDOT Resident Engineer Jeff Allen said. "It was sporadic, it would come and go. Then once we started seeing that it was coming back day after day at that point, we did stop and change our paving practices to see what we could do to alleviate it."

Allens says the recent heat wave is to blame. The sealant used to seal joints in concrete below the pavement stayed liquefied causing cracks and bumps in the asphalt paved over it.

"I would hope before the contractor gets paid and says he's finished, that that's fixed," Koeleveld said.

Crews have started filing down the trouble spots, but it could take an extra week or two and cost taxpayers an extra $50,000.

"I feel like it's a poorly done job, a waste of taxpayer money," Murphy said.

"Unfortunately, we don't feel like this is the contractor's fault," Allen said. "This was a material issue, we are looking at practices we can do to alleviate it, and keep it from happening again."

The DOT says it wants to make it clear that the project was not finished and no one had signed off on the work.