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Ah, Summer – Sunshine, Blue Skies, and Crack Sealing

Summer in Seattle means many wonderful things: grilling in the sunshine, enjoying amazing views, or just taking in our wonderful weather. 

To SDOT, summer means preventive maintenance programs for pavement. 

SA photo 1 sm2One of these programs is crack sealing: filling cracks in the pavement to protect our streets.  As avid SDOT blog readers may already know, water seeps through cracks in pavement. When it freezes, it expands and damages our roads. 

Crack sealing fills cracks in the road with a flexible material which keeps out that water.  It’s not unlike filling cracks around a bathtub with caulking.  Crack sealing helps keep streets in their current condition and prevents the need for more expensive repairs.  It’s also quick. Cars can use the road the same day as the crack seal operation. 

Our 2013 program starts in mid-July and will take about four to six weeks, depending on that summer sunshine.  Cracks will be filled in three corridors in this order:

• Phinney Ave N, between N 50th St and N 60th St

• 10th Ave W / Olympic Way W / W Olympic Pl, between W Bothwell St & 2nd Ave W

• 15 Ave NE, between NE 145th St & NE 125 St.

A total of over 103,000 linear feet of cracks will be filled on these streets.  That’s almost 20 miles, the distance from Seattle to Issaquah!

Crack sealing – quick, cost-effective, and common-sense preventive maintenance.  It’s one way SDOT spends its summer.

Contact:  Susan Almachar: 206-684-5303