There’s more dirt being moved in Sedalia.
An asphalt batch plant west of Peterson Road is under
construction on the southern 15 acres of a site leased by Aggregate
Industries of Golden. Mike Refer, Aggregate Industries’
vice-president of administration, estimates about one-third of the
dirt moving is finished.
Berms and landscaping will shield the batch plant from U.S. 85
and Peterson Road, Refer said.
After extensive dirt moving, the level of the southern end of
the batch plant site will be dropped from 30 to 40 feet so it can’t
be seen from U.S. 85, said Paul Whalen, Douglas County Community
Development planner.
One concern during the planning process was to maintain a
wildlife corridor on the northern end of the property, he said.
Berms will be revegitated with natural plants and fencing put up
that allows wildlife to move across the site.
“They have a right to build it, but the trick was to be
sensitive to the people in the area,” Whalen said.
The property, which is about 35 acres, was zoned general
industrial when Aggregate Industries submitted a site plan for the
batch plant, he said.
“They’re going to put a berm along Peterson Road and landscape
it with trees to screen it from public view as much as possible,”
Whalen said. “I mean, lets face it, it’s a batch plant.
Construction of the asphalt batch plant will be first, with a
ready-mix plant planned in two or three years, Refer
said.
An asphalt plant requires aggregate rock such sand and gravel
and two 45-foot-tall, 25,000-gallon horizontal tanks to store
liquid asphalt binder, he said.
There will also be one small building for a management office on
the site.
When the ready-mix plant is completed in two or three years,
Aggregate Industries hopes to bring materials in by railroad.
Company officials are currently in negotiations with Union Pacific
and Burlington Northern Santa Fe for parallel tracks to unload rail
cars.
When negotiations for the rail import site are complete, most of
the material Aggregate Industries sells will be brought in on
trains and sent out on trucks. In the meantime, all sand and gravel
for the asphalt batch plant will be brought to the site by truck.
Traffic to and from the asphalt plant will be from Peterson and
Airport roads, Refer said.
Trucks will not be allowed to go through residential areas of
Sedalia and Aggregate Industries is required to work with CDOT to
install a traffic signal at the intersection of U.S. 85 and Airport
Road, said Larry Corcoran, Douglas County traffic engineer manager.
The lighted intersection must be built before the county will issue
a certificate of occupancy, he said.
A traffic study dated July 2002 estimated that Aggregate
Industries’ site will generate 227 more vehicle trips each day on
and off U.S. 85 at Airport Road.
Increased traffic will include trucks delivering raw material to
the asphalt batch plant, employees going to and from the site and
construction delivery of materials from the site, he
said.
The second estimate of site generated traffic for 2020 is 681
vehicle trips per day on and off of U.S. 85, said
Corcoran.
The primary goal of rail transport is to supply sand and gravel
to the asphalt plant and the future ready mix plant, but it will
provide materials for customers in Douglas County who have uses for
aggregates, like other asphalt and ready mix producers might want
to buy rock or developers who need pipe bedding and base
gravels.
Aggregate Industries’ target date to finish the asphalt plant is
May 1, Refer said.