Looking east on Gibson Hill in North Albany on Wednesday afternoon (May 8).
Expect delays, the sign on Gibson Hill Road says. That doesn’t sound good. But what it also says is that the long-awaited repaving of this North Albany arterial will finally start this month.
Two companies responded to Benton County’s invitation to bid on the project to repair and improve the road from Scenic Drive to the roundabout at North Albany Road.
North Santiam Paving Company of Stayton submitted the low bid of $1,572,021 in April and was awarded the contract.
Work is to start this month and be completed before the resumption of school after the summer.
The road will not be closed, but one or the other lane will be closed at times, with flaggers trying to keep traffic moving.
The contract calls for adding or replacing three sections of sidewalk on the north side of the road. For a more detailed description, check the Benton County handout here.
Once the work is done, Benton County will transfer jurisdiction over the road to the city of Albany. (hh)
Does this work mean that Gibson Hill Rd will become City responsibility upon completion? It seems to me that was the information that came out 2 – 3 years ago when the project first came up.
Yes.
Many thanks for keeping us up to date on road projects in Albany!
I hope they do a good job. Lord knows, like all the other streets in Albany, they won’t maintain it in the future.
With the ever-increasing cost of street paving and road upkeep, moving from a traditional oil based asphalt model to a more sustainable waste-plastic-asphalt model would significantly benefit the counties, city, and road users in many ways, from overall cost to increased durability, less maintenance, and extended life of roads to the reduction of single use plastics to landfills.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2021/09/17/single-use-plastic-used-to-make-longer-lasting-asphalt-in-missouri/?sh=28387aeb6054
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNAgPbkhXq0
When they get the bugs all sorted, this looks to definitely have some promise down the road…
I’ve read that asphalt is 100% recyclable. I wonder if that remains true once the plastic has been introduced with it? If not, we may be creating another waste problem.