Nearly 20,000 vehicles drive on Ellsworth Road every single day, and now the high-volume road is part of a research project evaluating the performance of rubber asphalt made from scrap tires.

It's a first for the Washtenaw County Road Commission, though the technology has been used in other areas of the state.

"It's been done around the state and several areas, but first time here," Neeko Robison said.

Project Manager Robison says this nearly one-mile stretch of Ellsworth Road in Pittsfield Township is getting a unique makeover as crews work on innovative ways to keep roads from cracking as cooler temperatures begin to creep in.

"We're all very excited about this innovation," Robison said.

This isn't your average asphalt.

"We're paving two inches of asphalt, using our rubberized asph

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