Preparation work for McMinnville’s $1 million Street Paving Project will begin Tuesday. This will be the first street work, other than patching, done in over a decade.
“We had our meeting with the contractors,” said McMinnville Public Works director Bill Brock. “They are going to start prep work Tuesday. They are going to go out and begin marking some streets.”
While it is still unknown which streets on the list will be tackled first, what work will be done first is known.
“They will be milling first,” said Brock.
When the base course of a street remains in good condition, but the asphalt layer has failed to a large extent, asphalt milling is an effective way to bring the pavement back to like-new condition at minimal expense.
Asphalt milling, also called asphalt grinding, is the process of removing some or most of asphalt surface with an industrial milling machine. A grinding machine removes the milled asphalt from the street, which can later be recycled.
Along with being less expensive, milling allows the street to be driven on immediately and will improve vehicle traction and drainage.
“Over the years, we have lost our curbs on some streets,” said Brock. “Asphalt has been built up to the point where the curb is gone and streets don’t drain like they should. Milling will improve drainage and bring back the curb.”
Brock says the streets on the paving project will look like N. Chancery Street does now and be just as smooth after milling and paving.
McMinnville officials have a list of 51 streets they would like to pave. Work will begin this fall on up to 26 of them.