Santa Maria’s annual street maintenance project is set to begin Tuesday.
SANTA MARIA – Drivers are advised that temporary, short delays will occur on dozens of Santa Maria streets beginning on Tuesday – weather permitting – and continuing through mid-October. This is due to the city’s annual street maintenance project.
Residents and businesses can easily find out if their streets are impacted by the project, and when the work is scheduled, by visiting the city’s project webpage at tinyurl.com/558f49k3.
Construction will move quickly from street to street. Parking will not be allowed on the streets in active construction areas. The contractor will provide notice and post those streets with the dates and times when parking will be prohibited.
The most notable, highly traveled streets affected include Stowell, Skyway and Depot.
Residential neighborhoods’ streets will also be treated, including areas north of Donovan between Blosser and Railroad, as well as residential streets south of Main between Russel and Bradley. Several other smaller streets will be resurfaced.
The work includes chip seal (a thin-layer road maintenance treatment consisting of asphalt oil covered by small chip rock that protects and extends pavement life). Within two to three days of the chip application, a sprayed-on coat of surface seal called tire rubber modified surface seal (TRMSS) is applied.
The road is opened to traffic immediately after chip spreading but traffic will be impacted temporarily during the TRMSS application for a short curing period. Once the treatment is placed, traffic must remain off the roadway until the material has cured. This generally takes four to five hours or more depending on weather conditions. Once the material is cured, the contractor will open the roadway to traffic.
– Neil Hartstein
