Nighttime construction crews will lay asphalt over 2.5 miles of East Bethany Drive after ongoing concrete repairs finish along the corridor.

The Allen City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 22, approved a $1.67 million contract with Overland Corporation for the Bethany Drive Asphalt Overlay Project, according to a city news release. The project will add a thin layer of asphalt over existing concrete pavement stretching from Greenville Avenue to Malone Road.

The method is new to Allen. A $495,000 pilot on McDermott Drive, completed in 2025, was the city's first asphalt overlay. Engineering Director Chris Flanigan said the overlay protects repaired concrete and could add a decade of life to the road.

"The overall intended benefit is to prolong the service life of the roadway," Flanigan said in the city's release on the project. "We expect, by watching other communities undertake the same thing, that we'll get 10 or more years of benefit out of this investment."

The contract breaks down to a $1.5 million base bid plus a 5% contingency, as first reported by Community Impact. Flanigan said the city received several bids and Overland Corporation offered the best value in cost and time.

The project is funded with cash reserves set aside for special projects at the council's direction, the city said. Community Impact described the funding source as the strategic non-bond fund and leftover fiscal year 2025-26 funds.

Construction will happen at night in three phases. Crews will start at median breaks and turn lanes, then move to main lanes, and finish by adding permanent lane markings. Flanigan said the work is not especially loud and moves continuously along the road.

Overland Corporation has committed to finishing the 2.5-mile stretch within 45 working days once work begins. No start date has been set.

The overlay will begin after remaining concrete repairs along Bethany Drive wrap up. Those repairs are part of a separate $4.87 million Street and Alley Rehabilitation Project that was active along Bethany Drive as of Sept. 7 and was expected to continue for about a month.

The city said the overlay should produce a smoother, quieter ride with better-visible lane markings.

Mayor Chris Schulmeister said the project reflects the city's strategy of investing in roads before they need costlier fixes. Allen began using a Pavement Condition Index system in 2022 to evaluate every road and alley and build a five-year repair plan. Full reconstruction can cost four times as much as preservation work, city documents state.

The Bethany Drive project is part of a longer-term plan to consider asphalt overlays on other major Allen roadways. Future overlay projects will depend on available funding and council approval.