Highway 52: Where Reform Hits the Road

Roadwork can’t expect Kim Kardashian-like coverage. But when the asphalt applied on Highway 52 this summer lasts twice as long, cracks four times less, causes less splash, spray and noise, and is safer, all while being more cost-effective, that deserves a little attention. 

On Highway 52, the Minnesota Department of Transportation recently applied a type of asphalt known as Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA), which has been used in Europe, for resurfacing and repairs. 

SMA lasts over four times as long as typical pavement before starting to crack, according to a 2009 Auburn University study.  This squares with the longest-running test case in Minnesota—also in Inver Grove, at 117th Street—where the SMA surface installed in 2002 has experienced only one crack in nine years. This is in spite of having some of the highest truck traffic in the state.

Important to homeowners living near Highway 52, the Ontario Department of Transportation recently found traffic on SMA to be noticeably quieter than on typical pavement.  

Most remarkable, though, is that in cost studies, such as on the Highway 212 project in Chaska, use of SMA has been found to be the most cost-effective option as well.

In politics, some folks talk about the need for government reform and innovation but don’t do much to make it happen.  Another group actually does reform and innovation but doesn’t talk much about it.

I prefer to work with and call attention to the people in the latter group. 

As wintry conditions are about beset our state once again, the recent road work along Highway 52 in Inver Grove Heights provides a perfect example of the innovative and reform-minded efforts of folks in the latter group.

Kudos to the Minnesota Department of Transportation for their willingness to do things in a new, more efficient, more cost-effective way on Highway 52.  It’s a good example of reform hitting the road.