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John Street About to See Major Facelift

Updated December 3, 2012

"Full-depth reclamation." It just doesn't sound like a fun procedure, and it's not.  It involves chewing up asphalt, pulverizing concrete and spitting out dirt and rock. It's dusty, dirty and makes a lot of noise.  But in the end, what it produces is a smoother, stronger, and longer-lasting roadway that will actually save taxpayer dollars.

On Wednesday, December 5th, John Street will begin to undergo "full-depth reclamation"...a much-needed facelift for a street that was rated to be one of the town's worst in a recent survey.  The aging asphalt from Hwy 70 to Holding Street is in such disrepair that cutting and patching it simply isn't cost-effective anymore.

On Wednesday, residents will begin seeing the large equipment moving in. The process is actually quite fascinating, as it rebuilds worn out pavement by recycling the existing roadway.  The town estimates that by using the existing materials and preserving natural resources, taxpayers will save roughly $15,000 compared to alternative repair methods.  Check out the incredible transformation by watching this video posted by the company handling the John Street project, Ruston Paving.

While incredible, it will also be an inconvenience.  In a perfect world, the work will be finished by the end of the week. So we're just talking about a few days.  But over those few days we're pleading with residents to PLEASE try to drive as little as possible.  It's not that you or emergency vehicles won't be able to drive on the street during construction, but until the final layer of asphalt is compacted, driving on the surface can leave indentations and will require extra work from the crews.  

The town also sincerely apologizes for the noise, dust and detours the work will cause.  We know it's frustrating.  Please bear with us....in the end, you'll see John Street resurrected into a smoother more stable road and say goodbye to that cracking, bumpy and rough ride you've been living with.   

The John Street work is part of the third phase of a massive project to upgrade and resurface streets all over town. Crews are replacing aging water and sewer lines on some streets and making repairs or repaving others. In some places, new sidewalks are being added. 

Replacing utilities, the slowest part of the process, had to go first. Since paving can't begin until all utility work is completed, some streets have been in a construction status for months as the more time consuming utility work proceeds from street to street.

"We would like to pave each street immediately after the utilities are in the ground, but piecemeal paving is just not cost effective," Town Manager Steve Biggs said.

Work crews have taken care to minimize utility service outages as the work progresses. Once subsurface work on a street is completed, it is made drivable until paving can begin.

As has been the case throughout the long process, residents on particular streets are being notified either through phone calls, door flyers, mailings, and on the Town of Clayton website and Facebook postings.  Cars have to be removed from streets when work begins and remain on a side street until the work is completed and the street is drivable again. Every effort is made to open streets at the end of a given workday. Residents who need to come and go during the day are asked to move their cars to a side street if possible during the process.

The entire project involves more than 2 dozen streets and more than 30 blocks. This third and final phase includes portions of just five streets, including the extensive rebuilding of John Street, and work on East Joyner Street, Durham Street, Parrish Street, and Hobbs Street.

"Once work in this final phase is completed, the town will have made a $4.3 million investment in better infrastructure and streets over the last few years," said Mayor Jody McLeod. "It's been a long process that has inconvenienced many residents along the way, but all you had to do was drive our streets to know that it needed to be done. We're excited to be making improvements that will benefit everyone for years to come."