The Barton County Commission took steps to prepare the county for the upcoming county highway maintenance projects when it met Wednesday morning at the Courthouse.

First, approved was the 2023 cold mix asphalt contract, awarding it to Venture Corporation of Great Bend. The company provided the only bid at $8.90 per ton, up from $8.15 last year.  

The Road and Bridge Department accepted bids through Feb. 7 for the 2023 cold mix asphalt contract, County Works Director Darren Williams said. The bid specified mixing approximately 25,000 tons of material, with the county furnishing all aggregate and asphalt oil.  

Using the county specifications, the contractor will be required to mix asphalt at the county pit on South Washington, Great Bend.  Funding was included in the 2023 Budget for this anticipated expense.

Second, commissioners OKed the  2023 county highway stripping project contract, awarding it to Straight-Line Striping Inc., Grand Island, Neb for $131,854.20.

Barton County accepted proposals for the project through Feb. 7. Work includes center-line and edge-line striping on approximately 98 miles of county roadway, said County Engineer Barry McManaman.  

This involves about 1 million feet of white striping and 500,000 feet of yellow striping, he said.

Straight-Line, which has done the work for the past several years,  submitted unit prices for the estimated quantity of both white and yellow paint, as well as the glass beads that provide reflectivity to the striping.  The actual quantities of each material used by the contractor will be paid for at the unit prices submitted. 

The chip-seal work this year will focus on the northeast quadrant of the county, he said. Basically, this means the area north of K-4 and east of the Susank Road (that goes north out of Hoisington).