City of Sonoma paves way for slurry sealing

Sonoma’s in no short supply of roadwork these days, but the “slurry sealing” street project, which started last week, aims to make sure there’s less need for maintenance in the long run.

The project spans 23 street segments within the city limits, targeting roads where wear and tear is not overly severe. A slurry seal will improve the longevity of the roads, but will do nothing for streets already in poor condition.

Any surface cracks will be first filled before applying the slurry seal, which is a “mixture of polymer modified asphalt emulsion mixed with sand-like gravel,” according to city Public Works Director Dan Takasugi.

Slurry sealing a road is different from a repaving; it keeps water from penetrating through cracks, causing further damage over time, and also creates a smoother wearing surface.

“If we were to apply it to a street in poor condition, the old cracking would soon reflect through the new slurry seal,” Takasugi said. “The slurry seal helps to seal water from penetrating the pavement and also provides a smoother wearing surface.”

Streets that are worse for wear need either an asphalt overlay or a full street reconstruction; a full reconstruction can be 30 to 50 times more expensive than a slurry sealing, Takasugi said. Slurry seals, on the other hand, extend a street’s life and are a cost-effective way to maintain city roads, he said.

Work, which started last week, will be separated into three parts: striping removal occurred from Sept. 23 to 25; crack work is slated for Sept. 28 to 30, while the slurry seal itself will be applied from Oct. 5 to 7. Specific streets will be closed off for four to six hours while the slurry seal is applied and until it dries.

Residents on these streets will be given prior notice to prepare for street closures. Residents living directly in front of a slurry seal-in-progress must park their cars on adjacent open streets, not in their driveways or on their street.

“If they find themselves trapped in, after about four hours, it should be safe to drive over the newly sealed surface,” Takasugi said.

Commuters should expect a slurry flurry of traffic on the days of sealing.

“The largest traffic disruptions in this project are the two segments on West MacArthur Street and East MacArthur Street,” Takasugi said. “As we know of a more exact schedule for those segments, we will notify the public.”

The $157,107 project is funded primarily by Measure J sales tax revenue.

Streets to be sealed include: Appleton Way, Arguello Court, Avenue Del Oro, Chase Street, Claudia Drive, East MacArthur, France Street, Greve Lane, Hudson Court, Lasuen Street, Mission Terrace, Neil Court, O’Farrel Court, Osenda Court, Robinson Road, Studley Street, Towne Street, Tronado Court, West MacArthur and Yount Street. For more information about the slurry seal pavement restoration project, contact Public Works Director Dan Takasugi at dtakasugi@sonomacity.org.