County advances paving, chip‑seal and sweeping plans; rural MDOT contract passes 4–1

Angie, speaking for Jackson County Department of Transportation, walked the committee through the semiannual construction and maintenance plan: 125 sign replacements, upgrades at 20 intersections, 20.5 miles of preventative maintenance, about 70 miles of local road rehabilitation and approximately $8.6 million in bridge work across ten bridges. “We have $8,600,000 in bridge work. That's a lot of bridge work this season,” she said.

Angie also described an uptick in maintenance demand: nearly 4,000 queue alerts arrived to the office from Dec. 1 to May 31, with roughly 550 still open (mostly potholes). She said the county has repaved the equivalent of more than 2 miles’ worth of asphalt in pothole patching work and that winter line‑item overspending required internal budget adjustments. “We could have paved 2.27 miles so far this year if we didn't have potholes,” she told commissioners.

The department requested an increase in contracted street‑sweeping funds from $150,000 to $250,000 for the remainder of the 2026 season after several chip‑seal sites required multiple sweepings; commissioners discussed equipment types, potential collaboration with the City of Jackson and whether unspent funds would return to contingency. The committee forwarded the sweeping increase to the full board with a recommendation of approval (motion passed unanimously). The MDOT rural paving and chip‑seal contract (26‑5202) for several rural roads was forwarded and passed the committee 4–1; commissioners discussed classification and federal‑aid eligibility for Hewitt Road.