Drivers of Big Oak road may not have to worry about the ‘nightmare road’ for much longer.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Middletown township’s Board of Supervisors have approved a $937,567 project to have Big Oak Road undergo a “full depth reclamation process” as well as a complete repaving of the road.
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The major renewal has been voted 5-0 to be handed off to the the lowest out of five bidders for the project, the James D. Morrissey, Inc.
According to cement.org, a full depth reclamation process is where the original road will be torn up, pulverized and recycled into new cement to create a new base for the roadway. It has been deemed by many to be an environmentally safer way to repair roads. Several other pros the site has listed are that “there’s no need to haul in, aggregate, or haul out old material for disposal. Truck traffic is reduced, and there is little or no waste.”
The corporation has been approved to spend $886,567 to build a 12 inch concrete layer, which will go below three inches of pavement. They will then spend $51,000 have the road milled, paved and striped. The repairs will span from from Woodbourne Road to Township Line Road in Lower Makefield.
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Several other options were given to the township at the time of voting. One contending offer on the table was for the corporation to spend $790,967 on rebuilding portions of the road by laying 6 inches of conventional pavement on top of 6 inches of geogrid-reinforced quarry stone as well as the $51,000 for the finishing.
Although the option chosen has a hefty price tag, officials have said that the FDR will lead to a stronger roadway with a longer lifespan of 15 to 20 years. This is double the lifespan of the opposing option, which would only last 7 to 10 years.
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The project has been covered in funds already through two grants given to the township- one from the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority for $700,000 and another from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for $339,000.
To many, this project couldn’t have come sooner- in previous article by levittownnow.com, it is said that “potholes and bent rims were not uncommon on the one-mile-long roadway.” This was especially the case when the road was closed in early 2013 due to it’s poor condition. Since then of course, the potholes have been filled, but these were only minor repairs to make the road bearable until a more permanent solution could be found in the current road project.
