Flat roads, but asphalt drips everywhere

In early April, Armfield Farm received newly paved roads, a project that had been in process for multiple years. Unfortunately, during the paving, one of the contractors’ trucks dripped a significant quantity of asphalt on Lees Corner and Centreville Roads. Later that month, Delegate Boysko provided a letter to the HOA [excerpted below] that she received from the VDOT project manager.

“We are aware of the issue with Virginia Paving tracking tack coat and millings onto Lee Corner’s Road. This has been an ongoing issue for several weeks. Virginia Paving has performed several clean-up operations in the last two weeks to remove stray tack coat from Lee Corner. The most resent clean-up effort occurred on last Friday 4/22/16. I spoke with the Foreman for the crews for the Loudoun Plant on 4/22/16 regarding the issue and he agreed to increase the sweeping efforts as well.
“On 4/15/16 I had an extended conversation with Virginia Paving’s Project Manager, Rob McKeever, He acknowledge the problem and indicated that Virginia paving was planning to switch to non-tracking tack coat as soon as possible, but mentioned that the non-tracking tack coat was not currently available from their supplier, and probably wouldn’t be until around 4/25/16. Spec doesn’t require non-tracking tack coat be used until 5/1/16, but VA paving agreed to use it at their own expense as soon it became available.

“The tracking problem is particularly bad at the intersection of Lees Corner and Centerville Road. At that location trucks with tack and millings on their tires sit at the light, and when they accelerate from a stop, the tack transfers from the tires to the pavement. VA Paving has attempted to clean this up, but it is problematic because 1) tack has transferred onto the paving markings, and 2) this is a high volume intersection, and any lane closure to perform clean-up greatly impacts traffic. The plan at that intersection was to perform spot clean-ups as possible, and then have VA paving replace the paving markings, and thoroughly clean the intersection once all the paving in the neighborhoods adjacent to Lees Corner Rd is complete.

“VA Paving has agreed to increase the frequency of sweeping. They will also increase the holding temperature of the tack to the upper end of the manufacturer’s recommended range with the hope that it will break faster. They have also been directed to keep their equipment off the tacked pavement until the tack breaks. As previously stated they will also switch to trackless tack coat as soon as it is available and no later than the required date of 5/1/16. These efforts combined with ongoing removal of stray tack will hopefully minimize the problem. In any case, VA Paving will be required to thoroughly clean Lees Corner and Centerville Rd once work is complete, and before the contractual completion date of 7/31/16.

VDOT NOVA, Assistant Transportation & Land Use Director, Fairfax & Arlington Counties