Twenty county roads covering 26.72 miles in eight townships are scheduled to be repaved this summer.

Additional money that has been promised from the state would allow for nine other roads in three townships to be paved. That would be another 13.35 miles of roads receiving attention in Jackson County.

Warren Martin, the county’s highway superintendent, said work will begin in late May or early June and has to be completed by Aug. 31.

With the primary project, the Jackson County Commissioners recently approved awarding contracts to Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc. of North Vernon and All-Star Paving Inc. of Seymour. O’Mara will do 19 of the roads for $1,478,241, while All-Star will do one road in Brownstown Township for $13,260.

With the alternate paving program, O’Mara had the lowest bid at $722,697.28.

The funding sources will be the cumulative bridge, county economic development income tax, motor vehicle highway and local roads/streets funds.

The county also expects to have local income tax distributions from the state in May, and some of that money will be used to improve county roads.

Martin said he and his staff drove around the county roads to determine which ones to include in this round of paving.

“There is a madness to what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it to get the worst of these roads and get them done,” Martin said. “We’re still looking at a lot of roads that need help, and we’ll be back with a reclaim machine this year if we can get one locked down for at least a minimum of 30 days to reclaim some roads.”

Since Martin took over the county highway department in 2008, he said 38 percent of the 738 miles of county roads have been covered with asphalt.

“That’s still deficient, I understand,” Martin said. “We’ve got a lot of roads to do, given our road mileage and where we’re at.”

But if the roads that have been chipped and sealed are added in, the total number of roads that have been worked on bumps up to 63 percent, he said.

A majority of the roads that were paved in 2008 have been chipped and sealed to preserve them and help them last longer, Martin said.

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Jackson County roads scheduled for paving

Township;Road

Brownstown;100W (from State Road 135 to 90S)

Brownstown;350S (from 100E to 50E)

Brownstown;300N (from State Road 135 to 300W)

Brownstown;350W (from 390N to 300N)

Driftwood;550S (from State Road 135 to 250W)

Grassy Fork;225E (from 550S to gravel)

Grassy Fork;50W (from 650S to 50E)

Grassy Fork;200E (from 400S to 525S)

Hamilton;200E (from 875N to 375E)

Hamilton;800N (from 100W to county line)

Hamilton;100W (from State Road 258 to 600N)

Hamilton;600N (from 100E to 100W)

Jackson;1040E (from 340N to 275N)

Jackson;Sandy Creek Drive (from golf course entrance to railroad tracks)

Owen;975W (from 125S to U.S. 50)

Owen;1100W (from 200N to 325N)

Owen;1250W (from State Road 58 to county line)

Owen;900W (from 350N to new pavement)

Pershing;950N (from dead end to dead end)

Redding;700N (from U.S. 31 to 1200E)

Alternate paving program

Township;Road

Brownstown;460W (from 300N to 490W)

Brownstown;150N (from 500W to State Road 135)

Brownstown;Base Road (from town limit to dead end)

Brownstown;100S (from Base Line Road to dead end)

Brownstown;50W (from town limit to gate)

Hamilton;25E (from county line to 875N)

Hamilton;875N (from 100E to 200E)

Hamilton;Base Road (from 800N to State Road 258)

Owen;450N (from 1250W to 900W)

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