Bessemer alleys to be paved

By CHARITY SMITH

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Bessemer - The Bessemer City Council approved the paving of eight "maintained" alleys on Monday during its regular meeting.

"The project contract was bid out for 12 inches of gravel going down each alleyway," said Kelly Heidbrier, an engineer with C2AE. "In the process of working out these last change orders it dawned on me that by reducing that thickness it actually offset a fairly significant cost of asphalt. ... It wasn't a perfect match, but it is a very unique opportunity."

He said that it would only be 1.5 inches of asphalt and 6 inches of gravel, as opposed to the 3 inches of asphalt that covers the city streets. He said that the 1.5 inches is what is used to pave most driveways. Heidbrier said that was the tradeoff and is the max that can be covered with United States Department of Agriculture and Rural Development funds being used for the ongoing water and sewer project. The alleys will be about 10 feet wide with asphalt, as opposed to 12 feet wide with gravel.

The alleys to receive pavement include: The three alleys north of Galena Street from Mill Street to Mine Street; the alley south of Mary Street by Clayburg Street, which Heidbrier said accounts for one and a half alleys; the alley south of Longyear Street off of Spring Street between Spring and Mine Street; the alley south of First Avenue; the alley south of Second Avenue; and in Yale, the alley just south of Yale Avenue.

The Michigan Department of Transportation estimates the cost of maintaining one mile of paved road to be $10,000 as opposed to $5,000 for gravel, said Loper who sat in the audience for the pavement discussion, as the alley behind her home will be affected by the decision.

"There's probably not a mile of alley in there," said Mayor Adam Zak.

Neal Nelson, the lead of the city's Department of Public Works, said an issue that will arise is that some of the alleys were not properly maintained. He said that instead of grading holes, people just dumped a bit of gravel on top, and several of the garages are not properly lined up with the alley. According to Nelson there are a few drainage issues.

"The life expectancy (of the alley road) is going to be cut in half at least," said Nelson. "It seems like a lot of the asphalt now doesn't hold up quite as long. It dries out faster than some of the old stuff did. I can see them lasting 10 years, longer than that it might become a maintenance headache."

He said the city just doesn't have funds to maintain alleys.

"It sounds like a good idea to pave them, but because of the limited thickness of this asphalt I can see them failing," said councilman Rob Coleman. "We are going to have a problem 10 years down the road and are we going to have the money to fix that problem?"

Councilwoman Linda Nelson was concerned that they will be getting calls from people the first time it rains and somebody's garage floods. However, Zak pointed out that this will happen with either gravel or asphalt.

"I just don't see them holding up," said Coleman. "Yeah, it sounds great right now. I just don't think it's going to be great a few years down the road."

Councilman Bill McDonald pointed out that although the alleyways will be paved with half the thickness of the main roads, the majority of vehicles driving on the alleys will be cars and pickup trucks, with the exception of the garbage truck.

Zak suggested making an ordinance limiting the weight and number of axels allowed on the alleyways. Loper said that would be possible, but many residents put their trash out in the alleys, especially those who live off of the highway.

The council voted 4-0 to pave the alleys. Councilman Terry Kryshak was absent from the meeting.