Posted by Andy in
Blog on 08 6th, 2012 |
no responses
You may have noticed some new Chip Seal around Teton Valley, but you probably don’t know how much effort went into making these projects cycling friendly. Well, thanks to the hard work and financial contributions of Rick LaBelle, Dick Weinbrant, and Teton County ID, big steps were taken towards reinforcing the cycling friendly nature of our valley. Thanks to all involved! If you want the play by play… read on!
1/4" chip used on Old Jackson Hgwy above standard chip used on Victor roads
Below is a report from Tim Young on the projects:
Thanks to Teton County Idaho, City of Victor, City of Driggs, and special thanks to amazing private sponsors Peaked Sports and Asphalt Systems for the great work on chip seal experiments. Well done! This provides some great options for future “complete streets”. Thanks to ITD staff as well for going the extra mile on ID-33 chip seal project.
Chi Melville and I conducted some bike tests on Old Jackson Highway, ID-33, and Ski Hill Road this weekend. Fun duty on a beautiful day…here is our report below and photos.
Overall we were impressed with the 1/4″ chip seal with top fog seal, the “chip sandwich”. Rick LaBelle sent a technical report to most of you earlier, if you would like a copy let one of us know. This review also made apparent the importance of making Ski Hill Road a bike-friendly complete street as Teton County Wyoming moves forward on necessary maintenance projects.
Best regards,
Tim Young
-
Tour de Chip Seal
Test Vehicles used: Road Bikes
Date: July 28th. [Final fog seal was July 25]
Old Jackson Highway — Experimental section has two types of 1/4″chip treatments - the south mile has 1/4″ chip seal, no top coat; the northern miles have the 1/4″ chip seal followed with a second oil coat over the top.
Discussion: Overall, both treatments of 1/4″ chips provide a greatly improved surface for bicycle use compared to standard 3/8″ chip seal. There is a significant reduction in the roughness and vibration of the road surface for bicycle tires. While the plain 1/4″ Chip Seal was satisfactory, there was still a significant amount of loose chips with chip migration to the outside road edge caused by vehicles and wind blast.
The “Chip Sandwich” method of coming back after a few days for a second coat of Oil on top was significantly better for bikes and pedestrians. The extra coat of oil on top did several things; it filled in the voids and really locked the chips to the road, resulting in nearly no loose gravel and very limited chip migration. More of the chips, which are expensive, stay in place protecting the road rather than migrating off the road onto the shoulder. The 1/4″ size and potential to reduce cost is worth looking into for more projects.
Issues: We did note that the chip seal did not seem to have been rolled as smooth as it could have been; that is, the depth of chips varied more than normal after a chip seal. We heard after that the roller may have broken down and not been able to fully roll the chips in; it would be helpful to know what happened. If feasible, it would be interesting to send a roller out ASAP in the heat of the afternoon, and see if another roller treatment would help. A couple hours roller time might help.
Overall, the use of 1/4″ chips with a top coat, the “Chip Sandwich”, produces a substantially more “complete street” that works for all users including bicycles. The 1/4″ chips will clearly provide sufficient traction and wearing course for motor vehicles, and the overall product is far superior to any 3/8″ Chip Seal without a top coat of oil, period.
Is it possible to provide a cost per mile estimate for this treatment? It would be helpful to know how it compares to 3/8″ chip seal. Good job Jay getting 1/4″ chips for $18 a ton.
Old Jackson Hgwy without extra oil coating
ID-33 south of Driggs — It looks like this has a 3/8″ chip seal treatment, confined to the 24′ two travel lanes, with oil only on the 5′ shoulders, then an oil overcoat on top.
Discussion: ITD did a good job on keeping the chip seal in the travel lanes; and adding the overcoat of oil, much like the experiment on Old Jackson Highway, made a huge difference in reducing loose chips and chip migration. They did a very good job with rolling the chip seal smooth, and with the top coat of oil, even the 3/8″ chips are reasonably smooth.
Issues: The type of top coat oil used was not the best quality, and it sounds like there were some sticky tar problems after the installation. I believe this could be addressed with changing the type of oil specified for the top coat; there are oils that would dry fast and not be as sticky.
Idaho Ski Hill Road — Test section with oil over the 3/8″ chips from last year. Riding Ski Hill Road 3/8″ ‘chip nightmare’ after the 1/4″ test was not even close in comparison. Ski Hill Road with 3/8″ chips is terrible compared to the new 1/4″ chips. The amount of vibration is so bad for road bikes many riders are out in the lanes, but those are not much better. It is not a complete street for bikes, which are common users, with 3/8″ chips.
Discussion: The test shoulder treatments to coat the 3/8″ chips was fairly successful. It made a noticeable improvement, perhaps 30% smoother than without the treatment.
Alta Ski Hill Road Alta — existing shoulders are 4′, but often covered in gravel. This is an excellent candidate to try the 1/4″ Chip Sandwich method. If Teton County WY follows through with 10′ lanes and 5′ shoulders, they can strip a formal bike lane, which would also be helpful for pedestrians in Alta. No question, after viewing the Old Jackson Highway, the 1/4″ chip is a much better solution to seal the road on a budget while still complying with the new Complete Street policy in the Comprehensive Plan.
Discussion: It would really bad to put 3/8″ chip seal through Alta like Teton County Wyoming has been doing elsewhere. Rather, the improved 1/4″ chip seal with top oil coat should be used.
Targhee hill Ski Hill Road — existing road and shoulders date back to 2004 I think (?) when it was totally reconstructed, and has had no surface treatment since then. That is unusual to go so long. The road is still in remarkable good shape, but the investment is at risk due to the lack of maintenance. Pay now, or pay more later is how the old saying goes.
Discussion: The high bicycle use on the road to Targhee, combined with Teton County Wyoming’s new complete streets policy demand special treatment of the road. It should not be chip sealed with 3/8″ chips as the County has proposed. It would be a big loss to residents of both counties, and impact the growing bicycle tourism market. The Hill portion of Ski Hill Road is a good candidate for a more advanced sealing treatment than the 1/4″ chips, something like a slurry seal or micro-seal may be necessary to meet the Complete Streets Policy.
Summary Report from Project Coordinator Rick LaBelle Below:
July 25 Teton Valley Fogsealing Project
I. Objectives:
a. Provide sealcoats on several key roads at minimal per-square-yard cost
b. Create smoother surfaces on two designated Teton Valley cycling routes
II. Pavements treated:
a. Ski Hill Road bike lanes within City of Driggs (1/2-mile)
b. E2000S (3.3 miles)
c. Old Jackson Highway (1-mile/ea. Teton County & City of Victor)
d. Teton Valley Cabins driveway (adjacent to bike lanes in Driggs)
III. Entities Involved:
a. City of Driggs
b. Teton County
c. City of Victor
d. Peaked Sports/Dick Weinbrandt
e. Asphalt Systems/Rick LaBelle
f. Brett Cooke (t.v. cabins)
1. Ski Hill Road bike lanes
Funding: 1/3 City of Driggs, 1/3 Peaked Sports, 1/3 Asphalt Systems
Square Yardage sealed: 2,350
Application Rate: two applications @ .10 gallons per sq. yd. each
Gallons of oil used: 470
Time: first application from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.; second application from 2:15
to 3 p.m.; = 1hr 45min total.
Observations: sand was used right after first application on uphill (south) lane
as experiment to further fill voids, swept & rolled before second application;
several volunteer from community helped sweep sand; cones were used for traffic
control during/after first application…but no city staff or traffic control/cones
were in place for second application - hopefully no bikes pedaled through the wet
oil; I biked these sections today, and felt it was appx. 50% smoother than before
treatment.
2. E2000S: (note: this was a road Teton County Road & Bridge had identified to
treat with GSB-88 liquid sealcoat oil, and compare the performance with nearby
chip-seals over time.)
• Funding: 100% Teton County
• Square Yardage sealed: 42,592
• Application Rate: 1.5 miles @ .09 gal sq yd; 1.8 miles @ .07 gal sq yd
• Gallons of oil used: 3,369
• Time: 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. = 3.5 hrs.
• Observations: good county road & bridge personnel were present for traffic
control; stopped at 1000 E. (1.5 mile mark) to let oil dry on each lane before
proceeding east to state line, which added significant time (1.5hrs waiting) but
allowed traffic to continue using road; oil looked very good, but was still sticky at
1000 E. intersection and tracked dirt for appx 100 yds as cars turned on from dirt
road; no such problem at west end by highway 33; could have saved some overall
time by having distributor truck refill during 1000 E. wait period; road looked
great by that evening.
Old Jackson Highway, 1-Mile in Teton County
Funding: 1/3 Teton County, 1/3 Peaked Sports, 1/3 Asphalt Systems
Square Yardage sealed: 12,907 (22’ wide)
Application Rate: .07 gal sq yd (county agreed to just .06)
Gallons of oil used: 904
Time: 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. = 1 hr. 15min.
Observations: sweeping of 1/4” chips from previous week’s chipseal was only
marginally effective, because county’s broom was broken…but shouldn’t affect
outcome too much; started with application rate of .06, but the road could clearly
handle more so we increased rate to .07; county only agreed to .06, and we (ASI)
will only bill them for that; went smoothly except for a crazy citizen in SUV who
ran two traffic barricades and nearly crashed into the distributor truck; waited at
9500 South for oil to dry, before proceeding north onto the Victor City mile.
Old Jackson Highway, 1-Mile in City of Victor
Funding: 1/3 City of Victor, 1/3 Peaked Sports, 1/3 Asphalt Systems
Square Yardage sealed: 15,253 (26’ wide)
Application Rate: .07 gal sq yd (city agreed to just .06)
Gallons of oil used: 1,068
Time: 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Observations: county & city combined on traffic control, effectively keeping
residents from driving onto the road during application and drying process; sealed
feeder road from Hwy 33 as well; intersection in front of brewery was complex,
but completed just as oil ran out; road looks absolutely beautiful, and has received
many compliments already.
T.V. Cabins Driveway
Funding: 100% Brett Cooke
Square Yardage Sealed: 2,778
Application Rate: .09 gal sq yd
Gallons of oil used: 250
Time: 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Observations: this was done just before the second coating of Ski Hill Road
shoulders, as City of Driggs finished rolling the uphill shoulder & as the county
moved traffic control from E2000S to Old Jackson Hwy; it adjoins the downhill
shoulder of Ski Hill that we were sealing; at the end of the day (6 p.m.), Jay M.
expressed displeasure that we did this driveway during the county’s work day; if
any of you feel the same just let me know - there were many 15-minute windows
of time that could have been shaved throughout the day, and significant quid-pro-
quo work being done among five entities as well as several private citizens to help
share costs and make this whole thing happen…so I want everyone to feel good
about the entire project.
I will get to work on dividing up the oil, freight & spreading billing per each entity’s
gallons of oil used or agreed to.
Leave a Reply
