OSWEGO COUNTY – The start of the summer season once again brings out road and bridge crews for maintenance. This year, the Oswego County Highway Department is planning to address nearly 60 miles of roads and four bridges throughout the county.
“Every year, we compile a list of roads for repairing,” said Oswego County Highway Superintendent Shawn Walker. “We strategize road location and condition to prioritize these projects in coordination with New York State’s Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), which reimburses the county for eligible paving jobs.”
The County is planning to mill and pave sections of county Routes 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 22, 23, 27, 34, 37, 39, 41, 57, 63, 64, 84A and 176. In addition, town and village roads in Central Square, Hastings, New Haven, Palermo, Sandy Creek and Schroeppel are being targeted for paving.
Factoring in weather and seasonal time constraints, crews may not be able to complete the full list before the season ends. Jobs not completed will be included on the list for next year.
While most other counties sub-contract with private-sector bituminous mix plants, Oswego County is fortunate in that it owns its own facility.
“Our plant makes roughly 100,000 tons of high-quality blacktop annually,” said Walker. “We use it for our own road work and also sell it to local municipalities. Some towns have their own paving equipment, they just need the blacktop.”
In some instances, the road surface needs to be milled before it is paved. This milled material, called grindings, is available for sale to residents within five miles of a work site. Grindings are sold in “as is” condition for $125 per load on a first-come, first-served basis. Call the Oswego County Highway Department at 315-349-3437 for details or to be added to the wait list.
The highway department is also responsible for maintaining over 100 bridges around the county. This season, four bridges are targeted for rehabilitation. They include bridges on Hall Road in Oswego Town, Castor Road in the town of Redfield, county Route 23 in the town of Constantia and Maple Avenue in the village of Lacona.
“We monitor bridge conditions with state inspectors and plan bridge work based on those assessments,” said Oswego County Highway Engineer Chris Baldwin. “Maintaining good infrastructure allows us to plan ahead for these projects, so we can close them down for maintenance and re-route traffic with minimal impacts to county residents.”
Walker added, “It’s important for residents to know that most of the road and bridge work we do is reimbursed by state or federal funding. For example, the bridge work in Constantia is also reimbursed by the state’s CHIPS program, while bridge work in the village of Lacona is 100% funded by the state’s Bridge New York Program.”
For more information about upcoming county highway projects, call the Oswego County Highway Department at 315-349-3437.
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