Resurfacing project has begun

The town of Farragut’s contractor, APAC-Harrison, continues work on resurfacing streets and parking areas.

“Proper maintenance of the roadways keeps the Town’s network of streets from deteriorating,” Darryl Smith, Town engineer, said.

“As streets age, the cost to make repairs and resurface increases dramatically. It’s imp-ortant to replace the surface before underlying layers are affected and require replacement as well,” he said.

The resurfacing project includes Campbell Lakes Drive, Turkey Cove Lane and Fords Cove Lane at the Cove at Turkey Creek Subdivision, Lost Tree Lane near Fox Den Villas, Long Ridge Road in Saddle Ridge Subdivision and Allen Kirby Road, all of which are now finished.

Chelsey Riemann, Farragut public relations coordinator, said as of June 20 the contractor had not finished with Outlets Drive. It has not yet started on Boyd Station road underpass, Public Works Facility parking lot and Applegate Lane in Ramsgate.

“We are at the mercy of the contractor’s schedule and are simply waiting for them to complete the project,” she said.

Street resurfacing is an annual project.

“The engineering staff observes all of the Town’s roadways throughout the year and maintains a list of roadways that will most likely need resurfacing in the next few years. The list is fine-tuned each spring, as different roadways will age at different rates for a variety of reasons,” Smith said.

“Some roads may need resurfacing in 12 years, some may last as long as 30 years or more,” he said.

Smith said the Town awarded this year’s resurfacing contract to APAC-Atlantic, Inc./Harrison Construction Company for its low bid of $466,476.25, based on unit prices. He said additional funding in the Town’s budget allowed it to add repairs to Long Ridge Road, paving of the overflow lot at McFee Park and the staff lot at Farragut’s Public Works facility along Fretz Road.

An official town of Farragut press release stated drivers should be cautious when traveling these roads during resurfacing and should expect possible minor delays with flagging operations for alternating traffic, if required.

“There shouldn’t be significant delays during this work … Traffic will be allowed to pass at all times, and the only delays will likely be when a motorist wants to enter the roadway, say, from their driveway, just as the equipment passes by. In that case, the delay will only be a couple of minutes,” Smith said.