Madison County outlines multi-year pavement plan and awards 2025 preservation contract

Madison County commissioners heard details Monday about the county’s pavement-preservation program and approved a contract to carry out the 2025 work.

County roads presenter Chris Deals told the board the pavement program has repaved or preserved roughly 173 lane miles after seasonal work in recent years and that, if funding remains steady, “we will be able to pave every county road in 16 years.”

Deals outlined the mix of treatments used—chip seal, microsurfacing, open-graded interlayer (OGI), overlays and occasional full reclaim projects—and said the county’s approach prioritizes preservation on lower‑use roads while reserving total reclaims for high‑priority corridors. He warned some past surface treatments had been misinterpreted by residents as full rebuilds and said those surface treatments were primarily intended “to seal the cracks in the roads” and buy time until a full reconstruction can be funded.

Commissioners were also briefed on the 2025 bidding results. Public works staff opened bids and recommended awarding the county’s 2025 LMIG/preservation contract to Garrett Paving, the lowest responsive bidder at about $2.32 million. Commissioners voted to approve the award and the related contract.

Why it matters: county-maintained paved lane miles total about 914, according to staff figures, so the current annual pace of preservation and overlays determines how quickly a full refresh is possible. Staff and some commissioners said preserving more roads now helps avoid far costlier full‑depth reclaims later.

Details from the presentation and board discussion

Deals presented lane-mile totals for recent years (roughly 62 lane miles in the 2022 fiscal year, about 53 for 2024, and a targeted ~58 lane miles for 2025), and described a programmatic shift back to OGI on many jobs this year because of materials and haul pricing. He noted one recent total reclaim — Lim Edward Road — covered about 2.5 centerline miles (roughly five lane miles) and cost roughly $1.5 million.

Commissioners pressed staff about quality control, preparation before surface treatments and scheduling. Deals said crews will stop and prep where necessary before triple-surface treatments and that staff will continue to ride and inspect candidate roads together before work begins. Commissioners asked for clearer advance notice of which roads will be worked on and asked staff to provide a weekly or near-weekly schedule for the paving contractor once the contract is under way.

Contract award and schedule

The county received multiple competitive bids for the 2025 LMIG/preservation contract. Staff reported Garrett Paving as the low responsive bidder and recommended award. Commissioners approved the contract on a motion with a second (mover/second recorded in board minutes). Staff said most of the first contractor’s work should be completed before Memorial Day, with a short pause and a second contractor starting roughly 30 days later for additional overlay and microsurfacing work.

Ending

Commissioners directed staff to provide clearer public notices and a rough week‑by‑week itinerary for the contractor once schedules are firm. Staff said they will give the board weekly updates and distribution of the 2025 work list to help commissioners answer constituent questions about timing and locations.