Cochise County plans double chip seal for 20-mile Kansas Settlement Road; to consider Douglas asphalt plant material

At the June 10 Cochise County Board of Supervisors work session in Bisbee, Mr. Fazio presented the highways quarterly update and described plans to double chip-seal Kansas Settlement Road beginning in July.

Fazio said the Kansas Settlement project is a 20-mile corridor that carries heavy truck traffic and that county crews will apply about $250,000 worth of hot-mix patching before chip sealing to stabilize the surface: “Fred and his crew is going to have to go out there, this next week, and they have to put down about a quarter of a million dollars worth of hot mix on the North End Of Kansas settlement just to keep that road together for the big trucks that are crossing it,” he said.

Staff described funding constraints and procurement rules. Fazio reminded the board that projects exceeding a county threshold ($285,000) must go to state contract or formal bid: “If we're reconstructing a road ... it's like $2.85, I think it is. It's 285,000. Then it has to go out, either go state contract or bid,” he said, and added that maintenance work can exceed that ceiling without the same procurement path.

The county also discussed cooperation with a new Douglas asphalt plant. Supervisors asked whether the plant could supply hot mix for county projects; Fazio said engineering staff would review materials and specifications and that he and Jackie would coordinate outreach: “I'm totally open to using hot mix out of the Douglas plant. Okay. If it meets spec,” he said. Supervisors suggested meeting with Douglas city officials and the plant operator to define required specs and logistics.

Other highway items in the update included long-running chip-seal and fog-seal contracts at SunSites and other roads, striping operations (two striper trucks with one used as backup), and planned purchases for heavy-equipment such as a chip spreader, road grader and a dump truck. Fazio said the county will continue to prioritize maintenance where budgets allow and that full asphalt reconstruction for heavily trafficked roads remains unfunded.

Staff did not seek a county vote at the session but said they will return with additional cost estimates and procurement plans.