A series of paving projects this summer will smooth some 15 miles of roadway in Clark County as the Washington State Department of Transportation tackles its annual repairs.
First up: a $1.1 million project that will repave state Highway 501 between the Gee Creek Bridge and South 56th Place in Ridgefield. Work on that stretch of roadway begins Tuesday, according to WSDOT.
This year’s slate of work is about on par with last year’s, said Joanna Lowrey, a regional materials engineer with WSDOT. The agency keeps close watch on its roadways across the state and ultimately plans repairs based on need, she said. WSDOT’s pavement management system uses vans to shoot video of highways and collect information about the pavement surface, she said. The agency documents cracks, ruts and other characteristics.
“We have years of data, and we can track each one of our highways according to the condition that they’re in,” Lowrey said.
The amount of summer paving in Southwest Washington varies from year to year. That’s because WSDOT prioritizes projects on a statewide basis, not by individual regions, program manager Brian McMullen said.
Besides Highway 501, two other paving projects in Clark County are scheduled to begin in early July. A $5.8 million project will resurface more than 8 miles of state Highway 503 between Vancouver and Battle Ground. Another $5.2 million effort will repave 6 miles of state Highway 14 from Sixth Street in Washougal to the Clark-Skamania county line.
WSDOT also plans chip sealing work that will resurface another 40 miles of Highway 14 from Prindle to Bingen in Klickitat County.
Chip sealing is a less costly process that uses oil, water and crushed gravel to repair a road surface. Chip-seal projects are often used on lower volume rural roadways, and typically have a shorter lifespan than a project that uses full asphalt repaving.
As it plans repairs each year, WSDOT aims for a certain window of opportunity, Lowrey said. Waiting too long might mean a road is too damaged and requires more costly repairs, she said. Too soon and it wastes years of life the surface may still have left.
“We’re really trying to catch that balance,” Lowrey said.
During any resurfacing project, people should pay attention, slow down and keep safety in mind while driving, WSDOT spokeswoman Tamara Hellman said. Some of the work will take place at night.
