The chip seal work in Starke County has been completed but many rural residents are wondering why their freshly treated roads are rough and rocky. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told WKVI that the chip seal process takes around a week before the loose stone sets, and until then, the rocks on the road are loose and can cause damage to vehicles traveling at high speeds.
Ritzler also said that the county highway department chose not to perform any fog seal work this year to avoid closing roads and allow them to get the chip sealing done with little to no problems and as quickly as possible. Next year, he said the county will get to work fog sealing roads, which involves a light application of a diluted slow-setting asphalt emulsion to the surface of an aged pavement surface.
The chip seal process finished last week after crews wrapped up work at Koontz Lake. More than 45 miles have been chip sealed by the department.
In Pulaski County, however, chip sealing work is still underway. Highway Superintendent Mark Fox told WKVI that the chip sealing process should take about a month, weather permitting, and they started the work late last month. Now it’s just a matter of seeing how the weather holds.
