PELHAM – The Pelham City Council took steps at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 18, to address poor road conditions on Huntley Parkway.

The council approved an $11,990 agreement with Terracon Consultants Inc. for geotechnical work on Huntley Parkway, between Shelby County 52 and Shelby County 11, to figure out why dips continue to form on the road. City engineer Chris Cousins said a study needs to be conducted to get to the root of the problem.

Cousins said some repair work has been done on the road but it has never been repaved. But before city funds are spent to try to fix the road, the cause of the road failure needs to be determined so that it does not reoccur.

Problems on Huntley Parkway have been ongoing for several years and include rutting in wheel paths and fatigue cracking. Cousins said fixing the road will require more effort and money than a typical repaving. To determine an approach to fix the road, Terracon Consultants will drill 18 holes along the entire roadway. During that process, samples will be taken and evaluated to determine the likely cause of the pavement failures.

Terracon Consultants will produce a final report of their findings, which will include recommendations on how to repair the failing areas of the road. The information will be used to develop budget estimates for the repair and to determine appropriate pavement design.

No major repair work is expected to take place during fiscal year 2019, which ends Sept. 30.

Cousins said the geotechnical work will begin in the next two weeks and will take about a week to complete. Motorists can expect minor traffic delays, but Cousins said the road work will be scheduled around peak travel times.