New Repairs To Tuolumne Road To Begin Next Week
Tuolumne County, CA — Tuolumne County and the contractor have resolved their dispute over the controversial Tuolumne Road repairs that had residents and travelers calling the job botched due to flying debris and damaged windshields and have agreed on a schedule to fix the roadway by the fall.
“The County has been engaged in good faith negotiations with American Pavement Systems (APS), the contractor who performed the chip seal on Tuolumne Road, to ensure the road is repaired no later than this fall,” stated county public works officials. “Both the County and APS are legally obligated to adhere to the contract terms, which require the County to allow APS an opportunity to repair the road.”
Last Friday, we reported here, that the two parties were meeting in a special closed-session to devise a plan to rectify the situation. Today they released a mutually agreed-upon repair schedule, with crews doing micro-surfacing and restriping the road from Mono Way to Tuolumne Road North. All failed areas will be ground off, and a micro-surface or protective seal coat to extend the pavement’s life will be laid over the entire road. County public works officials explained, “It is a thin layer of asphalt emulsion blended with finely crushed stone for traction. Micro-surfacing costs are approximately one-third the cost of an asphalt overlay and extend the pavement’s life at least 5-7 years.”
The grinding work will be done overnight, from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., beginning on Wednesday, August 21, followed by the micro-surfacing work expected to start on Monday, August 26, during the daylight hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
County road officials report that all work will be completed by September 30, 2024. They added, “This repair plan fully resolves the contractual disputes between the county and APS and does so within the project’s contingency budget. The County appreciates APS’ efforts to amicably resolve this matter and believes the citizens of this county will be pleased with the end result.”