California communities receive grant for road repair projects

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery approved a $2.3 million grant to fund road repair projects that use recycled tires in 20 communities throughout the state, a report by KEYT says. All 20 projects will use rubberized pavement, a combination of ground waste tire rubber and traditional paving materials that is designed to create a safer, quieter and longer-lasting road surface.

The Rubberized Pavement Grant program funds two type of road repair projects: rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC), or a 2-inch overlay to existing roadway that uses 2,000 waste tires per lane mile; and rubberized chip seal, where crews apply a rubberized asphalt binder on existing pavement followed by a layer of aggregate chips. Morro Bay, California, was awarded $90,917 for rubberized chip seal road repair, the report says, which uses 500 waste tires per lane mile.

California generates 45 million waste tires per year, and 68 percent of them are taken from the landfill for reuse and recycling, the report says. The following cities and communities were awarded grant money:

• Agoura Hills: $14,216
• Antioch: $350,000
• Bell: $50,000
• Carlsbad: $191,240
• Ceres: $149,954
• Commerce: $281,400
• Cypress: $20,340
• Jurupa Valley: $28,000
• La Canada Flintridge: $37,821
• Morro Bay: $90,917
• National City: $252,882
• Orange: $109,320
• Ontario: $350,000
• Palo Alto: $88,200
• Pasadena: $26,224
• Riverside: $70,000
• Turlock: $81,704
• West Covina: $58,500
• county of San Joaquin: $53,100
• town of Moraga: $53,774