The Board of Supervisors has directed the Panola County Road Department to add an additional day of work each week until further notice, at overtime rates, in an effort to catch up with their plan for road maintenance and repairs.

The supervisors began the year with an aggressive maintenance plan but much higher than anticipated rainfall totals have put the Road Dept. behind, with the number of “good paving days” quickly getting by.

“These roads are crumbling faster than we can get to them,” said Supervisor Chad Weaver. “We don’t even have enough good surface left to send a patch truck to fill the potholes.” Weaver was only half-joking, as the normal summer limb trimming and ditch maintenance schedule has fallen behind.

Road Dept. employees generally work four longer days a week because it saves time and money to keep labor and heavy equipment on the job, and leaves Fridays for moving equipment and maintenance.

Supervisors approved the extra day while also looking for ways to have private contractors complete some overlay projects while county crews are clearing and prepping roads.

The board’s new policy of grinding up bad asphalt roads instead of simply overlaying them will slow the road maintenance program for a time, but will eventually result in better roadways that last longer.

Instead of adding more overlay, the supervisors will now only approve new asphalt for roads that have been limbed, ditched, and compacted. This process is slow, but ensures that new overlay doesn’t buck or crack when water stands.

Supervisors looked at estimates this week for typical overlay of one mile of county road with those running from $52,000 per mile to $475,000. The lowest price was for single overlay and the most expensive was for full reclamation of a road, including overlay, striping, and shoulders, per mile.The board settled on a price of $124,500 per miles, which is a double seal coat, but no striping or prep work. That price is dependent on the Road Dept. having roads ready to accept overlay.

Supervisors are expected to decide next week which roads in each district to designate for overlay this year.