About those post-construction road patches: Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights CC, report #2

| Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo: Road patch in Junction area)

Before we get to the second of two big transportation topics from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council (the first one, a Roxbury rechannelization report card, is here) – one issue that came up during the discussion, of interest to people all over West Seattle (and likely elsewhere in the city): Those road patches left behind after construction crews dig up part of a street to get to utility connections.

The subject came up while Westwood residents were expressing frustrations about pavement damage since transit service has increased in the area. One asked why the city allows “the backfilling … with (non-concrete material)” such as asphalt or rocks.

SDOT pavement engineer Benjamin Hansen was there and gave a frank reply saying he’s frustrated too: “Historically the way utility cuts have been restored .. a pipe crew, from a utility, will come out – a building has a number of connections, and the folks doing the pipe work have a certain skill set. Working with concrete or hot-mix asphalt is another skill set. So what happens is that they do that work and then they have this cold-mix asphalt that doesn’t take much work to handle, and they put it over the top as a temporary surface, and the idea is that after everyone has done their connections in that area, in that neighborhood, a paving crew with expertise will sweep through and restore those areas, and that’s the most efficient way …”

He said that may change: “We’re working at SDOT right now trying to remake some of the rules about how that’s done, to get away from, especially on the arterial streets, the number of temporary cuts we have, to shorten the time of restoration that a utility (is given) to do that work. Right now that temporary patch is allowed to stay in place up to a year. And there’s no way it can hold up to heavy loading, like on a bus route, for (that long).”

Hansen added that he is hoping to see some sort of synergy that could bring the pavement crew out closer to when the construction crew is done, so they don’t have to go through a second round of disconnections, shutoffs, reconnections to make the permanent fix. We will be checking in with SDOT soon to find out more about the potential rule changes.

AdmiralDad March 8, 2016 (4:00 pm)

Hmmm, wonder if we can California Avenue added to this list. Some of those construction patches are horrendous.

StringCheese March 8, 2016 (4:36 pm)

Who is responsible for fixing roads torn up during construction projects? By this, I don’t just mean the mess right in front of the building (like 35th and Avalon), but the damage done by all of the trucks going in and out for months on end? The road impact of the construction goes a lot further. Are we making the developers cover this? If so, why aren’t the roads fixed after every project? Morgan/Sylvan Way got destroyed when the Sylvan townhomes went in (additional High Point construction just made it worse). Who is held accountable?

Joe Szilagyi March 8, 2016 (5:38 pm)

Speaking as a so-called urbanist:

It should be a legal requirement in all building permits that any street cuts and additional wear and tear by the construction to adjacent streets must be restored to the shape they were in before construction began, or face substantial automatic escalating financial penalties until the harm is remediated. Not just a one-off penalty. Pay a monthly fine until you fix it — maybe equal to 1% of the assessed value of the property? — and increase the costs every month by 1% of assessed value until you fix the damage.

JayDee March 8, 2016 (7:07 pm)

Yeah like the Cayce-Gain “patches” on California N. of Charlestown. What a joke. If we have to put up with this future blight of a canyon, at least we should be able to keep our teeth in our mouths.

A nony mous March 8, 2016 (7:15 pm)

Streets in the West Seattle Junction have ruts and dips in them from dug up underground sewer and water lines, with pavement then poorly patched. Drive south from Genesee St along Glenn Way thencontinue on 44th SW to Edmunds St. Crosswalk lines and stop lines have been almost totally obliterated in many of the intersections in the Junction from Genesee to Edmunds / 42nd SW to 45th SW. Not good for pedestrians or vehicles.

Alki Resident March 8, 2016 (7:26 pm)

In three weeks Ive replaced three tires from hitting potholes in the dark. Im fed up with holes on my commute around town. And its ruining my car.

sgs March 8, 2016 (7:58 pm)

I’m with you all on this – the development on Alaska at the bus junction also has a couple of major pavement cuts I bounce around on. I’m going to try to catch someone in charge at the site to ask if they can do a better job, but overall, is anyone who can do anything about this seeing these comments? I imagine this is happening everywhere around the city. The logical way to do it is to make “repair as new” a requirement for developers.

WSB March 8, 2016 (8:31 pm)

SGS – while we know anecdotally that our comments are read by some folks in government, they can’t be considered official reports so please report to SDOT – 206-684-ROAD – or via the Find It Fix It app if you use that – same goes for potholes, fractured pavement, whatever.

carole March 8, 2016 (10:23 pm)

California between Charleston and Genesee is also a dug up mess from all the projects – 4 projects in that span.

bolo March 9, 2016 (9:20 am)

What can we do to help get the rules changed to “You broke it you fix it back to the way it was?”

“Right now that temporary patch is allowed to stay in place up to a year.” Anecdotal evidence shows many are apparently allowed to stay in place up to a year. More anecdotal evidence shows many deteriorate badly within a week. Then the city’s Pothole Rangers get to come out and apply band-aid fixes. But only when a concerned citizen takes the time to report it.

bolo March 9, 2016 (9:22 am)

Meant to say: Anecdotal evidence shows many are apparently allowed to stay in place for more than a year.

Alan March 9, 2016 (9:52 am)

I have never understood why asphalt patches were allowed to be made on concrete streets. It might make sense if they were just waiting for the earth to compress, but they quickly become potholes with very sharp and hard edges.

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