LENEXA, Kan. — The city of Lenexa, Kansas, hasn’t used chip seal to resurface asphalt roads since 2016.
Residents in municipalities across the Kansas City area have complained about chip seal leaving behind loose pebbles or gravel on recently refinished roads.
Lenexa now uses a process called ultrathin bonded asphalt surface (UBAS).
The method removes a thin layer of existing asphalt and puts a new surface in its place which is bonded together, eliminating the loose pebbles seen in the chip seal process.
UBAS is a technique typically reserved for large roads because the equipment is so big and heavy it can damage the substructure of smaller, residential roads and damage low, overhanging tree limbs.
McAnany Construction, a Shawnee, Kansas-based company, patented a method to bring UBAS to those smaller roads. It launched a pilot program in Lenexa in 2015.
“We figured out how to do it through some trials and tribulations and errors really," said Eric Vossman, president of McAnany. "Now we’ve mastered the process."
The city of Lenexa is so satisfied with the results, it now repaves all residential roads with the UBAS process.
“It looks great,” said Lenexa resident Blake Schreck.
McAnany is currently resurfacing roads in Lenexa’s Parkhurst neighborhood, where Schreck lives.
“I look forward to getting out and going down the hill on my bike on a nice smooth, non-pothole situation,” Schreck said.
UBAS is more expensive than chip seal, but it is less expensive than totally replacing a road surface through the traditional mill and overlay process.
Voters in Olathe approved the extension of a sales tax to fund street maintenance last month.
Next month, voters in Overland Park will receive a mail-in ballot asking to increase a sales tax that funds street projects.
Leaders say increasing the tax collected would help the city increase the amount of UBAS it does in residential areas — decreasing its use of chip seal.
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