Keeping a neat room clean is easier than cleaning a dirty one,
so every year the city maintains its roads by filling their
weathered cracks.
Gilroy – Keeping a neat room clean is easier than cleaning a dirty one, so every year the city maintains its roads by filling their weathered cracks.
In the second step of fixing pesky pavement cavities, city and county workers will join forces Aug. 20 to shut down streets one day at a time until Aug. 29.
Temporary “No Parking” signs will appear on the targeted, mostly residential streets 24 hours before the “chip seal” work begins, according to Operations Services Manager Carla Ruigh. Residents, who have already been notified by the city, must park their cars on adjacent streets before trucks role through at 7am, and since the road materials must cure and dry, affected avenues will remain closed until 8pm the same day.
While blocked roads can alter business routes and inconvenience travelers, city officials say past problems have been minimal since most residents know the routine by now.
“Whenever you do a big project like this, you always have periodic problems. Occasionally the weather’s not right, or some garbage truck will drive on a road prematurely, but generally the program runs pretty well,” Ruigh said.
City workers already completed the first step, known as “crack sealing,” a few weeks ago when they filled fissures with a malleable, rubberish substance that allows the pavement to move back and forth, according to City Engineer Rick Smelser.
County workers will now join the city in the second step, which involves blanketing repair areas with little pieces of rock that “actually extend the life of streets by putting a cover over existing street surfaces,” Smelser said.
Starting in September, the city will repeat the road closure process to seal the fixes in its third and final step.
Money for the already completed first step came from the city’s street maintenance and repair budget, which totals $130,000 this year and also covers routine pot-hole fixes. The last two steps cost $250,000, down from $350,000 last year due to more crack sealing and left-over money from fiscal year 2005-06, according to Smelser.
“That doesn’t mean this years program went down,” Smelser said. “It means money was remaining from last year.”
All the funds add up to $380,000 and come from gas taxes that total a little more than $4 million for FY 2006-07, according to the city’s Capital Improvement Budget.
Every year the county contributes trucks and equipment, and the city foots the bill. Both parties contribute workers.
“Normally things go pretty smoothly,” said Todd Barreras, operations service manager for the city’s streets, sewers, and trees. “The program doesn’t really catch anyone by surprise.”
The final step in September will require the same nine day period as the Aug. 20 to 29 crack-filling salvo, but Ruigh said daily operations then won’t require the same to 8pm window. Of course, this all depends on the weather, Ruigh added.
Any schedule changes will appear on Channel 17 and the city Web site, but residents can always call the community services department operations division at 846-00444 to check their particular schedule.
Road work schedule
– Aug. 20
Church Street from W. Luchessa Avenue to Princevalle storm channel
London Drive from Church Street to Devon Place
– Aug. 21
Devon Place
Hastings Place
Kensington Place
Kings Place
Churchill Place from Church Street to west end
– Aug. 22
Thames Drive
Victoria Drive from Church Street to Princevalle Street
Eschenburg Drive
– Aug. 23
W. Eighth Street from Church Street to Monterey Street
Westwood Drive from Third Street to Kentwood Court
Kentwood Court
Fernwood Lane
– Aug. 27
Laurel Drive from Cypress Court to Third Street
Cypress Court from Ponderosa Drive to west and north to cul-de-sac end
Bristlecone Court
Lodgepole Court
Spruce Court
– Aug. 28 Ponderosa Drive
Third Street from Santa Teresa Boulevard to 85 feet east of Ponderosa Drive
Laurel Drive from Third Street to Uvas Park Drive
– Aug. 29
Benassi Drive
Sequoia Drive
Holly Court
Amber Court
Third Street, 85 feet east of Ponderosa Drive to Laurel Drive
