The pandemic has affected the operations of businesses and organizations around the world, and ACHD was no exception. Due to Governor Little's stay-home order and the nature of the operation which requires chip seal crews to work in close proximity to one another, along with a multitude of other factors, the difficult decision was made to cancel chip sealing for 2020.

Crews instead will use the time and resources to focus on a growing backlog of maintenance projects. The backlog contains items from as far back as 2016, such as: grading, ditch work, pipe work, erosion repairs, pothole repairs, road and cul-de-sac rebuilds, roadway surface treatments, alley maintenance, and asphalt and shoulder work, curb and gutter repair, manhole collars, and weed control.

Crews will be working on projects such as:

• Shaw Mountain Road, grading, ditch, and pipe work
• Vista/Overland, repair northbound lanes and replace manhole collars
• S. Eckert Road, barrow ditch rebuild
• Bogus Basin Road, move mailboxes, burrow ditch repair
• Latah, repair sewer trench failure
• Amity/Cloverdale, install pedestrian ramps and pathways
• Kuna Bridge #1191, repair asphalt

Maintenance crews will also begin preparing roads for the 2021 chip seal season. A significant amount of work goes into preparing an area for chip sealing. Vegetation crews trim back trees and other greenery to make way for passing equipment. Cracks are also filled in before the roadway gets a new coat. Chip sealing will take place next year in Zone 2 South, which includes the area south of I-84, north of Lake Hazel Road, between Five Mile Road and McDermott Road. Chip sealing in Zones 3 will be rescheduled to 2022.