Sonoma Valley road work to last into September

Sonomans who appreciate the small-town feel of driving in town get a dose of big-city reality this month as several popular stretches of road are being subjected to everything from slurry sealing, chip sealing to “full depth reclamation” (FDR), both inside and outside city limits.

The right-angle mile of Watmaugh Road, between Stage Gulch Road (Highway 116) and Arnold Driveis in the midst of a two-week repair, upgrading the road from one of the worst in Sonoma County to one of the newest. Work began Aug. 8 with pulverizing existing pavement and compacting the road base, a process that should be nearing completion by today, Friday.

But that doesn’t mean the job is over.

“Oftentimes there’s a break between when we come in and do repairs until we come back and actually add the new road surface,” said Jennifer LaRocque of the county’s Transportation and Public Works department. As a single contractor may be responsible for several street repairs, unforeseen factors on one project may affect the timeline on another.

If all goes well, however, next week the crews will work their way down the road with an asphalt overlay to complete the FDR treatment. Work hours are officially 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, but if crews finish their daily schedule they may knock off by 5 p.m. Residents should be able to reach their homes off Watmaugh throughout the process, thanks to on-site crew. Weekends the road should be open, if marked by signage and cautionary cones.

Across town, work on East Napa Street is scheduled to being Monday, Aug. 22, a simpler chip seal process from city limits just beyond Sixth Street East to Eighth Street East, a third of a mile. Chip-sealing uses layers of asphalt combined with layers of a fine gravel for a durable, long lasting pavement surface. As this is a heavily-used residential thoroughfare, however, the 30-minute traffic delays may prove more disruptive (especially if you live on the eastside).

In the city of Sonoma itself, Public Works is engaged in an extensive slurry seal treatment of 18 street sections, which began Aug. 11 and is scheduled to end mid-September. During treatment, specific streets will be closed for approximately four to six hours, depending upon air temperatures.

West of town, the near-mile (.91) of Madrone Road between Highway 12 and Arnold Drive will get the chip-seal treatment, completing the surface repairs done in late June. Work on this stretch may also begin on Monday, Aug. 22, though it could be delayed by projects in other areas of the County.

“If we have something unexpected happening on one of these roads, it may shift the schedule for the remainder of the roads,” reminds Larocque. “We look at it in terms of a broad schedule, and do the best that we can to stick to that.”

A smaller section of Agua Caliente (.4 mile) between the same two roads, Highway 12 and Arnold Drive, will get a durable “bonded wearing course” in early September, a treatment of a high-performance road surface laid over the repaired road.

Farther afield, the entire length of Warm Springs Road is scheduled for repair this fall, in two segments: 2.74 miles from Highway 12 to Bennett Valley Road with a chip seal repair, then a complete asphalt road overlay on the 2.4 miles from Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen up to Bennett Valley Road. Work on these sections could begin as early as Wednesday, Aug. 24.

In the Sonoma area, Watmaugh is the only road that will be closed to through traffic during construction, but will remain open to residents and business destinations, said Larocque. “All other roads will be open to through traffic with alternating one-lane traffic flow, when necessary. Please expect delays of about 30 minutes and drive safely through construction areas.”

Where’s the money come from? “The board of supervisors contributes each year over $11 million in local general fund money to resurfacing roads each year,” said Larocque. In 2015, the board allocated $22.4 million to pave almost 90 miles of road in 2015-16, 67 miles of which will be completed this year. “So this is a really significant year for us in paving, made possible by the generous contribution of general funds money from the board of supervisors,” said Larocque.

A page on the county website is updated weekly with road construction information, at sonomacounty.ca.gov/tpw/projects/2016-paving.