Governor Andy Beshear and Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary announced Tuesday the award of more than $443,000 in grant funds to four counties seeking rubber-modified asphalt projects utilizing waste tires.
Among those four counties includes Christian, which will be using more than $107,000 of this product for Witty Lane.
Kenton, LaRue and Oldham counties were the others awarded.
Beshear said this funding “speaks to Team Kentucky’s commitment to invest in Commonwealth infrastructure,” while being better stewards of the environment. Beshear also attested that rubber-modified asphalt will reduce maintenance cost, road noise, and push tax dollars in other directions.
This grant funding will specifically be used to apply a new layer of thin asphalt overlay onto county roads. Rubber asphalt roads have proven more resistant to cracking and rutting, and increase the life of the roadway by 7 to 10 years. Selected roads for this project have road culverts, shoulders and bases in good condition with minimal repairs needed.
The money for these projects comes from the Kentucky Waste Tire Trust Fund, which receives $2 from every new tire sold in the Commonwealth.
The cabinet will be performing testing and long-term monitoring to assess the effectiveness of rubber-modified asphalt in Kentucky. As a condition of the grant funding, counties agree to pay for the application of conventional chip seal or thin overlay on a road in their county with similar characteristics, to allow for comparison between conventional and rubber-modified asphalt.
