The Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved a $446,335 contract to resurface selected Lehigh Acres roads as part of a $5 million commitment for this budget year.

Ajax Paving Industries received the contract to begin the process of resurfacing about two dozen neighborhood streets using recycled asphalt paving.

Commissioner Frank Mann, whose district includes Lehigh Acres, said the county’s $5 million-per-year commitment for the last three years is making a significant impact towards improving Lehigh’s neighborhood streets.

“I want to point out that there are two things interesting about this project. The first is that we are utilizing the county’s Recycling Asphalt Program, which recycles asphalt scrapped off other major roadways towards the resurfacing of new streets. They mix the scrapped off asphalt and mix it with the fresh asphalt. It gives us a lot more use out of that old asphalt and is an efficient way to use our dollars,” Mann said.

The county’s initiative falls under a larger, statewide environmental initiative by State of Florida Department of Transportation called Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement, asphalt mixes for use in low volume roadways.

“We are doing a superb job getting these roads done and stretching our money out with this asphalt program,” Mann said.

Mann also pointed out just how many Lehigh residential roads were never completed since the area was developed more than 60 years ago.

“The second great thing about this project is that a major portion of these roads had never been surfaced before. Some people have lived for decades on a dirt road and never thought it would get done. One road that we are doing soon is like a mile long and has never had asphalt on it. So this will be a tremendous benefit for homeowners who bought their property years ago,” Mann said.

According to Mann, the roadwork should begin very soon.

“The county will vote on the follow up contract, which is usually ready within a few days after the initial contract is signed,” Mann said.

Lee County Department of Transportation maintains about 1,500 miles of paved roads in Lehigh Acres.

Each year, certain roads in Lehigh Acres are ranked and selected for paving based on resident requests, road conditions and the number of residences on each road. The paving of these roads is paid through Growth Increment Funds, a program used for neighborhood streets, not arterial or collector roads.

For more information about the Lee County Department of Transportation, visit www.leegov.com/dot.