Over 30 miles of Seattle city streets "micro-surfaced" over the summer

SEATTLE — This summer, "micro-surfacing" crews are spreading out on over 30 miles of Seattle city streets.

"No parking" signs are already posted in parts of the Rainier Valley, the area where SDOT workers will get to first.

“The micro-surfacing is kind of a seal with asphalt that seals and protects water and moisture and other damage from occurring,” says Rodney Maxie with SDOT.

SDOT tells KIRO 7 micro-surfacing is a "cost effective option" to preserve the life of a street.

Crews picked neighborhood roads that are not an arterial and ones that have been under regular cycles of preventative repairs.

According to SDOT - Complete reconstruction of a single city block can cost up to $275,000.

Grinding and paving costs $50,000 to $60,000.

But with micro-surfacing, the price tag could drop to as low as $3,000 to $9,000.

“As a returning taxpayer, I want the most cost-effective solutions to make our neighborhoods safer,” says Tyler Adams.

He just moved back to Seattle from Portland with his wife and they got the notice about micro-surfacing project a few weeks ago.

The project that will cover four different neighborhoods in the next 10 days: Rainier Valley, Wedgewood Ravenna Bryant, North Seattle Neighborhood Greenway and Bitter Lake.

The roadwork will mean streets affected will be closed off to traffic for up to eight hours at a time.

Once the roads are micro-surfaced, SDOT says they should stay in good shape for up to five to seven years.

Cox Media Group