Area roadways to be closed temporarily for repaving

Some of Bowie and Cass counties’ roadways will receive new surfaces next summer, thanks to a contract recently awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation.

The Texas Transportation Commission, which governs TxDOT, approved a bid of $7 million from Missouri Petroleum Products Co. of Mountain View, Mo., to seal coat 156 miles of highways in nine counties located within the Atlanta, Texas, District.

“Seal coating a highway involves placing a layer of hot asphalt over the old pavement and then covering it with crushed stone,” said Mike Anderson, Atlanta district engineer. “This is a relatively inexpensive process that makes the roadway surface watertight, improves skid resistance and preserves the pavement structure.”

In an effort to help keep used tires off Texas landscapes, the district is requiring the asphalt used to be mixed with “crumb rubber” made from grinding up old tires.

“Using crumb rubber in our asphalt has proved to be an excellent process for seal coating our highways. The rock is less likely to pull loose, there are fewer occurrences of the asphalt bleeding through the rock and it can be used on a wider variety of surfaces,” Anderson said.

The following highways in Bowie County are scheduled to be resurfaced during the summer of 2019:

■ U.S. Highway 67 from Anderson Creek to the Cass County line

■ State Highway 8 from

U.S. Highway 67 to the Cass County line

■ Farm to Market Road 2148 from FM 2253 to U.S. Highway 67

■ FM 2148 from U.S. Highway 67 to U.S. Highway 59

■ FM 3419 from FM 2148 to U.S. Highway 82

The following highways in Cass County will also be resurfaced:

■ FM 1399 from FM 250 to State Highway 8

■ Highway 43 from Highway 77 to FM 1841

■ FM 995 from Highway 77 to FM 130