HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/15/2010 03C-2 Citizen Service Request Response RE: Repair of Arlington Street June 9, 2010
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
City Manager
From: Joe Rosenlund, PE
Streets & Traffic Operations Manager
Re: Response to Request for Repair of Arlington Street from Sandy. Lloyd
The problem the city has had with maintaining Arlington Street in the Tancara
subdivision is the wet soils below the pavement. There appears to be a high
groundwater table in this area that may caused by natural or manmade sources.
Without a comprehensive geotechnical study, I doubt that a reason can be pinpointed.
The result is that we have subsurface conditions that weaken the road's structural
integrity.
® Streets crews have been patching Arlington on an as needed basis. The road is not
comfortable to drive on because of the resulting uneven surface. This is the best we can
do with the resources we have. Our focus is on maintaining the arterial road network.
Residential streets are only receiving repairs when the pavements fail. Crack seal is the
only preventive maintenance residential streets are receiving at this time.
There are design and operational issues that exasperate the conditions on Arlington as
compared to other streets in the subdivision. The street was built as a half street without
any drainage facilities on the south side of the road. The street abuts agricultural land
that is heavily watered in the summer months. It also carries more traffic than was
intended because it provides a relatively direct connection to 56 Avenue between Nob
Hill Boulevard and Tieton Avenue.
Mrs. Lloyd states that we fixed the water problem we had on Nob Hill Boulevard. She
may have seen city crews making pavement repairs to Nob Hill or a utility under Nob
Hill but I am not aware of any water related problems that affect the pavement
conditions on Nob Hill other than the damage that winter weather causes. Even if Nob
Hill Boulevard had a similar problem, we would repair it ahead of any work on Arlington
because as a principal arterial it has a much higher priority in receiving maintenance.
This section of Arlington requires reconstruction with good drainage facilities included. It
may also require subsurface drains if the groundwater problem cannot be solved. There
is no money for this type of repair in the Streets budget and not likely to be any for the
near future. The best chance of getting the work done is if /when the agricultural property
to the south is developed into housing or other urban uses. The city will require the •
developer to construct the other half of the roadway and in the process may be able to
make an agreement to have the entire road reconstructed.
Wayne Deason, Streets Supervisor, and I have talked to Mrs. Lloyd and her neighbors
several times. We have explained the situation the best we can each time. We are
willing to meet with them again. Until the city's financial condition improves substantially
we can only do patch repairs on the road.
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