County engineer outlines summer roadwork, warns drivers about prime oil on J-53

JD King, Page County Engineer, gave the board a multi-part summer-maintenance update, describing grading, shoulder work and equipment repairs across county roads. "We were blading shoulders on J 64, picking up a little edge," King said, and confirmed the spray-patcher was not running yesterday but "is running today."

King detailed crew activity and equipment status, noting pipe crews working north on J Avenue, mower tire repairs and that the sign truck went to Saint Joe for an emissions issue and was returned. He also described progress on J‑63: "The base stabilization is near the Hoskins Curve getting close to 265th Street. They should be done with the base stabilization tomorrow. Tomorrow, the seal go crew is moving in, and tomorrow afternoon, we're gonna spray prime on the entire project."

On J‑53, King read from the project's public notice: "Construction work on J 53 continues in Page County with work beginning on the seal coat service phase... On Wednesday afternoon, J 53 will be closed to all traffic, including local access, so the contractor can spray a prime oil on the grade. Do not drive on prime oil. It will get on your car. It will pick up on tires when newly placed on the road. It can be driven on slowly after 6 to 8 hours of cure time." The board followed up with questions about local access and was told access is restored after the chips are rolled and the prime has cured sufficiently.