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SDOT’s Magical Measuring Tour

ARAN 2Seattle has over 1,500 lane-miles of arterials.  How on earth do we decide which streets get prioritized for our limited maintenance dollars?  Well, the first thing we need to know is what kind of shape all those streets are in. 

O.k. so how do we collect all that info?

We could dispatch an army of staff to personally inspect every section of every block of arterial.  They would conduct an in-depth assessment of the type, severity and amount of wear and tear on our major roadways.

OR…

We could use ARAN – the Automatic Road Analyzer.  ARAN is a hi-tech van that assesses and records the condition of the pavement on all of our arterials.  It even takes video of the pavement conditions.  

Every three years SDOT hires a contractor to assess the condition of our major streets in this way.  With an objective measure of the condition of our streets, we can make better choices about which streets to repair, rehabilitate or simply maintain before they need expensive repairs.

For info on the condition of Seattle’s streets, please visit SDOT’s Pavement Management website.

ARAN is “touring” Seattle’s arterials this summer, taking the burden off SDOT staff so they can work on other projects.  To SDOT staff, ARAN is almost like magic. 

Ok everybody, you know the words, “The magical measuring van is waiting to take you away …