Rock Road Companies Inc https://www.rockroads.com RSS feeds for Rock Road Companies Inc 60 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/7/delivering-bags-of-hope-fundraiser-a-success-thanks-to-those-who-helped#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=7 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=7&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 Delivering Bags of Hope fundraiser a success thanks to those who helped https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/7/delivering-bags-of-hope-fundraiser-a-success-thanks-to-those-who-helped On Dec. 16, community members turned out to help students in Janesville through our Delivering Bags of Hope food delivery event. Adam Brunette Thu, 07 Feb 2019 21:35:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:7 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/6/tauscher-kennedy-family-foundation-on-the-hunt-for-charity#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=6 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 Tauscher, Kennedy Family Foundation on the hunt for charity https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/6/tauscher-kennedy-family-foundation-on-the-hunt-for-charity When can a successful pheasant hunt near Orfordville be beneficial to a 10-year-old boy or girl in Janesville? Adam Brunette Thu, 07 Feb 2019 21:21:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/5/i-9039-expansion-set-between-janesville-and-beloit#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=5 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 I-90/39 expansion set between Janesville and Beloit https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/5/i-9039-expansion-set-between-janesville-and-beloit By early 2018, motorists driving a 14-mile stretch of Interstate 90/39 from Beloit’s north side to the north end of Janesville will see a major lane expansion project in full swing. Thu, 07 Feb 2019 21:13:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/10/state-street-to-reopen-early#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=10 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=10&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 State Street to Reopen Early https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/10/state-street-to-reopen-early After roughly two months of construction, State Street is set to reopen. Adam Brunette Tue, 10 May 2011 17:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:10 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/9/years-later-gateway-boulevard-complete#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=9 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=9&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 Years Later, Gateway Boulevard complete https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/9/years-later-gateway-boulevard-complete After almost a year of construction, the extension of Gateway Boulevard is now finished. The almost 1.8 mile stretch of stretch of Gateway Boulevard from Eagles Ridge Drive to Hart Road is planned to officially open to traffic by the end of the week - at which time arguably one of the City of Beloit's most major road-building projects since the Willowbrook extension will be complete, "This is a very signifcant project for the City of Beloit," City Manager Larry Arft said. "This Further enhances our ability to recruit and retain business in the community, opens up several more hundred acres that now have modern infrastructure in place, improves the marketability of the original Gateway site, and provides improved access to the Kerry campus." To celebrate the occasion, the City of Beloit will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Gateway Boulevard and Eagles Ridge Drive in the Gateway Business Park. The vision for what would eventually become the Gateway Business began over 10 years ago when the City of Beloit and MLG Development created a development plan for the land strategically located at the confluence of I-39/90 and I-43. The opening of Gateway Boulevard and it's connection to the interstate at Illinois Highway 75 was celebrated in July of 2003, and since then prominent tenants including the Staples Order Fulfillment Center and Kettle Foods have selected sites within the business park. Southeastern Container, Inc. and the new Kerry campus later moved into the site as well partly because of the infrastructure made available during earlier phases of the Gateway development, according to Arft. Now with the completion of the extension project, Arft said Beloit is in a better position to attract more businesses. "We needed to prepare for what we hope will be an improving economy," he said. "There's been nothing going on for the last two years in the U.S., but part of the motivation for this project is to position the city to be a player when companies start to expand and to make sure Beloit can be a contender for those projects - and that's what this does." Arft said the prospects for development in the Gateway Business Park have been "pretty thin" for the last two years, but the project's completion makes several hundred privately owned acres near the interstate north of the Gateway Business Park and wet of Townhall Road viable. Another 229 additional acres are also still available in the original Gateway site, according to the city's economic development director Andrew Janke. (Arft said Kerry owns an outlot on the east side of its campus, but he said Kerry has not made a decision yet regarding what to do with that property.) These area of land are now ready for development, according to Arft, because Gateway Boulevard has become a four-lane modern industrial road that will better accommodate traffic (especially for trucks) and it has modern utilities in place Plus, people now have direct access to the Gateway Business Park from I-43 "It's done now, and we will see a lot of people using it," Arft said. "It's convenient to get across the eastern part of the city, to get down quickly to Cranston (Road) and back to the heart of the city." The Gateway Project cost $10 million. About half of it was paid for by state and federal funds, according to Arft, and the remainder was funded from a TIF district in the City of Beloit. Adam Brunette Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:48:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:9 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/11/i-90-widening-progresses#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=11 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=11&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 I-90 Widening Progresses https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/11/i-90-widening-progresses Interstate 90/39 is seen from the Elevator Road bridge near Roscoe Friday. The southbound lanes have been expanded to three lanes, while, to the right, the northbound lanes still are just two lanes. Plans are to make the interstate a six-lane road on both sides of the Illinois-Wisconsin state line. The $180 million widening construction project on Interstate 90 between the state line and Rockford is halfway done and on schedule for a 2009 completion, according to Illinois Tollway officials. For three weeks now, eastbound drivers have traveled on three newly constructed lanes on the 12 miles between the South Beloit Toll Plaza and State Street in Rockford. “The Illinois Tollway recognizes that keeping work in the corridor on track is critical to community leaders' efforts to attract new development and eliminate a major bottleneck for truckers and commuters in our region,” said Illinois Tollway Director and Rockford resident Carl Towns. Drivers still may face delays, though. According to the Illinois Tollway, portions of I-90 have faced overnight closures. Most recently, one lane in each direction between Illinois Route 173 and Prairie Hill Road closed for 12 to 16 hours beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday. At midnight, the westbound lanes closed for 15 minutes. Daily construction alerts are available online at www.illinoistollway.com. The 16-mile Jane Addams Memorial Tollway project also includes the reconfiguration of the Cherry Valley interchange at I-90 and Interstate 39. Advance work on the interchange began in 2007, and mainline construction started last spring. Everything should be done by the end of 2009, according to the Illinois Tollway. The work on I-90 is part of the Illinois Tollway's Congestion-Relief Program, which Gov. Rod Blagojevich launched in 2005. The improvements - including rebuilding and expanding highways and converting 20 toll plazas to Open Road Tolling - should reduce travel times. Rumblings of widening I-90 on the Wisconsin side between the Stateline and Madison also have begun. Connections 2030, a long-range multimodal transportation plan created by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, includes the corridor between Beloit and Madison. According to a draft of the Beloit-to-Madison plan, the state plans to complete a corridor plan from the Stateline to U.S. Highway 12/18 in addition to studying a few interchanges. Depending on environmental documents, among other factors, future projects could include adding interstate lanes and reconstructing interchanges. It does not state a timeline for the I-90/39 project. Adam Brunette Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:22:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:11 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/12/work-crews-on-the-road-again#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=12 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=12&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 Work Crews On The Road Again https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/12/work-crews-on-the-road-again Stateline-area motorists can expect delays, detours. Beloit - It's deja vu all over again for Stateline-area motorists. Another road construction season is upon us, and there is no shortage of projects - large and small - in southern Rock and northern Winnebago counties. Nowhere is the impact more pronounced than in Clinton. On Monday, work began on a $2.33 million state project to reconstruct Wisconsin Highway 140 from Interstate 43 to just south of the village. "We're going to remove the pavement and curb and gutter from basically the north end of town all the way through town past the DeLong Co. (complex)," said Doug Sina, the state Department of Transportation's project leader. "We will also be replacing the subgrade... giving it a better roadbed structure. And concrete pavement will be laid all the way through the project." Last summer, the village replaced sewer lines on the same section of road in preparation for this year's project. That work dramatically impacted businesses located along Highway 140. Adam Brunette Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:50:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:12 https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/8/written-in-stone#Comments 0 https://www.rockroads.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=1119&ModuleID=1482&ArticleID=8 https://www.rockroads.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=8&PortalID=0&TabID=1119 Written in Stone https://www.rockroads.com/news/id/8/written-in-stone A new recipe for building highways could give contractors the chance to satisfy the public's appetite for higher quality roads at lower costs. When it completed a 4.5 mile section of Highway 11 between Footville and Orfordville last summer, Rock Road CompaniesTM of Janesville became the first contractor in the country to back up its work with a warranty. if problems - cracking, rutting or other types of pavement fatigue - develop along the stretch during a five-year period, it's Rock Road'sTM responsibility to fix them. Traditionally, county crews are contracted by the state to maintain state roads. The trade-off is that Rock RoadTM - and other contractors - have much more control of the project from the outset, said Stephen M. Kennedy, Vice President of Rock RoadTM. Three warranty projects were completed in Wiconsin this year. Besides Highway 11, projects were completed in Langlade and Eau Claire counties. Under a warranty-based specification process, the contractor makes a decision about asphalt mixes. The incentive for the contractor is to build a quality road that won't come back to haunt his pocketbook for repairs over the warranty period. Such a performance-based process could be the right tonic at a time when the country's infrastructure is in poor shape and fewer government dollars are available. "I've always been a firm believer that we understand quality better than the state DOT in that if you leave me alone, you're going to get a better product than a cookbook product," Kennedy said. "We're being asked to do more with fewer dollars and this is a way to do it and privatize what has typically been a government role." The process is a collaborative effort between the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Wisconsin Asphalt Pavement Association. Here's how it works" The DOT establishes specific performance criteria for the final product - the roadway. It is then the contractors responsibility to develop a mix that'll meet the criteria. Historically, the state has dictated the exact asphalt mix to be used, hence the reference to "cookbook recipes." Because the contractor is in charge, he is able to use cost effective ways to get his job done and is free to try new ideas. "It's an innovative way to do something differently than we have in the past," said Kennedy, who has spoken on the topic in several states. Gary Whited, the DOT's director of construction, said taxpayers benefit because the state's cost of engineering and overseeing the project is reduced. Whited said the three projects completed this year cost about 5 percent more than traditional projects. "I think we got a better quality pavement on those three projects," Whited said. " Of course, that's very subjective. But overtime, i think that will be the case." In the long run, Whited thinks the cost of the warranty projects will cost the state less because contractor will be more cost effective. "It's a very new concept," Whited said. "But I think it is an example of (the state) becoming more streamlined, more responsive." Other, however, aren't as excited about warranty roadwork. Detractors say such a process will ruin the country's low bid system, which gives both big and small contractors to bid a job. The cost of bonding, or insurance, necessary to cover maintenance costs also work against smaller contractors, the detractors argue. But Kennedy said the warranty process could actually increase competition. "For those that are in this business for the long haul, (this process) will provide opportunities," he said. "A contractor may know he's small, but he may also know that he can do the job better, so doors will open." "Bonding companies are not big fans of this," Kennedy said. "They're not sure where the liabilities lie. It's just so new, they're not sure how to rate contractors." Kennedy said the state may step in and rate a contractor the bonding companies won't touch. Either way, the performance based method of building roads is in its infancy. Kennedy expects more contractors will give it a shot in 1996. "I don't know that I want to do 50 of these projects," he said. "I don't know that it's the right thing to do, it's just so new." Adam Brunette Mon, 18 Dec 1995 19:33:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:8