DEAR EDITOR:
This letter is being written in an effort to clarify issues
raised by a letter to the editor.
DEAR EDITOR:
This letter is being written in an effort to clarify issues raised by a letter to the editor. The letter posed questions regarding the city’s current street resurfacing project. This street resurfacing contract, which was awarded to O’Grady Paving, includes crack sealing along with the dig-out and repair of asphalt concrete paving.
The letter correctly stated that signs posted on barricades were placed on Johnson Street and Glenview Drive advising residents of parking restrictions related to upcoming street repair work.
The contractor is required to place “No Parking” signs three working days in advance of starting work. The contractor is also required to notify businesses and residents who will be adversely affected by the work. In this case the contractor inadvertently posted Glenview Drive for “No Parking”, although no work was scheduled for Glenview Drive. When the error was discovered the signs were removed.
Glenview Drive was not scheduled for repair because not all city streets can be repaired with the limited funds available. The city’s engineering and maintenance divisions, with the help of engineering consultants, annually review the city as a whole and determine the best maintenance options and street locations to repair with the limited funds available.
In an effort to repair as many streets as possible, this year’s pavement includes crack sealing and patch repair which are preventative maintenance actions used to prevent water from entering the roadway base section and causing premature pavement failures. There are dozens of streets throughout the city that are receiving only crack seal. Patch repair is the digging out of sections of the road surface that exhibit base failure. These areas are excavated to a depth of six inches and then filled with a six-inch thickness of asphalt concrete. Unfortunately, not all streets that needed crack sealing or patch repair could be done with the current funding.
On Johnson Way the optimum maintenance action was determined to be crack seal. There were no major pavement failures but there was cracking of the pavement and some of the cracks had become fairly wide, so Johnson Way was placed on the project list for crack sealing. Glenview Drive also exhibits cracks but not to the extent of Johnson Way.
Harris & Associates is managing and inspecting the work for the city on this project. The city and Harris & Associates are working closely to assure that all the contract work is done in compliance with the plans and specifications. Necessary inspections are performed to assure that the city only pays for work that is actually performed.
If you have any questions on this or other projects please call the Engineering Division at 846-0450.
Rick Smelser, Gilroy City Engineer
Submitted Tuesday, Nov. 18
