San Francisco, CA – Today marks the start of a specialized roadway improvement operation to resurface 84 blocks over the next two months in neighborhoods throughout the City.
Crews will be in Hunters Point, Russian Hill, Chinatown, the Bayview, Visitacion Valley, Balboa Park, South of Market, North Beach and the Western Addition, among other neighborhoods. Work is scheduled to wrap up by the end of May.
Public Works’ contractor crews will be performing a pavement preservation operation known as “surface sealing,” in which a thin layer of protective material is applied on top of the existing asphalt pavement to prolong the life of the treated streets.
This efficient and effective operation is a key aspect of Public Works’ street resurfacing strategy. It can extend the life span of existing roadway surface by five to 10 years at a fraction of the cost and time associated with traditional street reconstruction methods.
Extending the life of a block in San Francisco that is in good condition with surface sealing can cost as little as $50,000. By comparison, the price to completely reconstruct a block in very poor condition can be as much as $500,000 or more. In addition, surface sealing takes just two days to complete per block. By contrast, full roadway reconstruction that requires extensive base repairs and repaving can keep a street closed for several days or sometimes weeks at a time.
Surface sealing defends the existing roadway surface against the weathering effects of the sun, rain and other environmental factors that can cause the roadway to deteriorate. Surface sealing is best suited for streets that are rated to be in fair condition but are at significant risk of further deterioration and more costly repairs.
“Public Works uses various techniques, from grinding and paving to pavement preservation, to maintain our streets – driven by the principle of resurfacing the right road with the right treatment at the right time for the right price,” said Public Works Director Carla Short. “The strategy has paid off.”
Public Works maintains more than 900 miles of streets, comprising more than 12,900 blocks. Last year, the department’s in-house crews and contractors resurfaced 635 blocks. More than 8,000 blocks – or more than 60% – of the City’s nearly 13,000 blocks have been resurfaced in the last 15 years.
The strategic effort of Public Works’ Street Resurfacing Program has resulted in the steady improvement of San Francisco’s Pavement Condition Index score, a ranking tracked by the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission that assigns blocks a score from a low of zero for the most deteriorated streets to a high of 100 for a freshly paved block. A Pavement Condition Index score of 85-100 is rated as “excellent,” 64-84 as “good,” 50-63 as “fair,” and 0-49 as “poor.” About half of San Francisco’s blocks are deemed to be in good or excellent condition.
San Francisco’s score now stands at 75, a rating that puts the City in the “good” category and places it at the top among the Bay Area’s biggest cities. Fifteen years ago, San Francisco’s score was 64.
A full schedule of the upcoming surface-sealing work and more details on the process can be found at sfpublicworks.org/services/pavementpreservation.
