KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — It gives new meaning to the phrase, “where the rubber meets the road”
A road in southern Kalamazoo County is about to become an experimental lab in the search for a cure for potholes, or a least a way to reduce them.
The roadway will be carefully and closely watched by local, state and national officials over the next few years because of the experimental mix of materials going into the pavement.
The secret ingredient is finely ground tires that have been reduced to a powder. Kalamazoo County Road Commissioner Joanna Johnson says they have tried using ground tires in roadway mixes before, but they were always pellets or chunks of rubber.
She says it’s been used successfully in southern Europe, and it would be expensive to use here unless it can be manufactured in much larger volumes.
But she says if their experiment works, it could be the future. But first they want to see how this mix holds up under different environmental and traffic conditions, particular a Michigan winter and its frost-freeze cycles which can be particularly challenging for pavement.
They hope to lay down the experimental road surfaces later this summer.
She says W Ave from Schoolcraft Village limits to Portage Road will have the rubberized mixture applied in two different combinations along that stretch to see how they compare.
There will also be two stretches using conventional methods that will serve as a control.
Is it the cure for the common pothole? It’s way too early to say, but we sure could use one.
