Blacktop was going onto a section of Meeks Drive and the city’s contract workers were supposed to be finished with the main part Friday, according to Orange Public Works Director Jim Wolf.
People who live and work along the section of roadway under construction have put up with rough roads, dust and heavy equipment for almost five weeks. The project was supposed to take a week.
Wolf said rain in August hindered the work because of an additive the contractor used in the base for the road. The base won’t set correctly if it gets wet. He said the contractor let the base sit in the sun this week to assure that it dried.
“We have to have a good foundation or the road will develop pot holes,” he said.
The city hired the contractor to repave a section of Meeks Drive beginning a few yards north of International Drive northward to Allie Payne Road. The work began with tearing up the old roadway and grinding it up to make a base for new asphalt paving.
After one day of work on August 2, a section near Allie Payne Road was torn up. Then equipment broke and had to be fixed. Work started eight days later and then another delay came.
Wolf Friday morning said the crew was supposed to complete the main roadway by the end of the day. Monday is a holiday and the intersections should be finished on Tuesday.
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