As paving is becoming more expensive, a Monroe County municipality is looking to save money by trying out a different process to fix its roads. Pocono Township is the first in the area to try out microsurfacing.
A preventative maintenance sealing treatment that’s used to extend the life of blacktop roadways is making its debut today in Pocono Township on Laurel Lake Road. It’s called microsurfacing, an alternative to tar and chip.
Pocono Township Commissioners Vice President Jerrod Belvin says, "The good thing is not everybody gets stones on their car or tar up in their wheel wells and the neighbors don’t get all the chips blown on to their driveway anymore."
Not only are drivers known to like it better but it’s considered safer by having better traction.
Belvin says, "With the tar and chip, once the chips come off, it’s just smooth tar, which is extremely slippery especially in the winter. And a lot of time with tar and chip with the snow, after the plow goes over, it gets packed in and there’s ice. Where this just has a brush design and the polymers act as a genera type of aggregate."
It’s also a big savings compared to repaving. While we’re told it costs about 25 percent more than tar and chip, it lasts longer. Instead of about two years, it should hold up for five. Officials tell us they’re the first to use it in Monroe County.
Belvin says, "The technology is new, it kind of hit the mainstream about three years ago. We saw it at a conference a couple years ago. The big cities started it first so last year we took a trip down to Hazleton to watch it in action."
Pocono Township is now paving the way, so to speak, for other municipalities. They were invited to come check out the process.
Mount Pocono Borough Mayor Randy Altemose says, "We always are looking to do whatever we can to provide the best value for the dollar. I mean, taxpayers dollars we want to spend wisely."
Mount Pocono Borough sent their roadmaster to get familiar with the product.
Altemose says, "He’s never seen it so he wanted to see how it worked and what the product was like, how long it takes to set up, things like that. Know the pros and cons."
Laurel Lake Road is one of three roads getting microsurfaced in Pocono Township.