Gooey chip seal on Sugar Street is not a new flavor being offered at Ferris Acres Creamery.

But it does promise to create a smooth ride for drivers passing by the popular ice cream stand as they travel between Newtown and the Bethel town line on State Route 302, aka Sugar Street.

According to Public Works Director Fred Hurley, the newly developed road surfacing mixture, if applied correctly, will not only preserve the driving surface longer, it will require substantially less time to apply, and will not require those noisy asphalt chips to remain on the roadway’s surface for days or weeks before being swept up.

That information was affirmed in a press release from Newtown State Rep Mitch Bolinsky on August 3.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation will be testing the latest formulation of asphalt rubber chip seal on Route 302 starting August 4.

Upon completion of Route 302, the work will progress to Route 188 in neighboring Southbury, and subsequently, Route 179 between Burlington and Hartland in the north central part of the state.

The project consists of the preservation of the existing bituminous pavement surface, and involves replacing catch basin tops as needed, crack sealing, patching repairs to the existing pavement, the application of Asphalt Rubber Chip Seal over the existing pavement surface, and finally the installation of new pavement markings within the project limits.

DOT Project No. 0174-0454 is scheduled to be completed on October 18, but the Newtown segment is the first piece.

Hurley said the new mixture involves using the same type of tiny chips, but they are being mixed with a hot rubberized substance that goes down smooth and is essentially ready to sweep up and drive on within as little as an hour or two, with no need for any further clean up.

“Instead of rolling along the road for days hearing those chips spinning around your wheel wells, like with the current type of chip seal, this new process should eliminate that,” he said. “If this pilot application is successful, we’ll probably see the state, and even Newtown moving to that application for our roads.”

Construction work that may interfere with normal traffic operations will take place 9 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 6 am, Monday through Friday and 6 pm to 10 am, Saturday and Sunday.

Alternating one-way traffic is to be expected through each work zone.