City starts road rehab summer project

Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus and Valencia streets to be affected in coming months

This week, Santa Clarita began its annual Road Rehab project to give slurry seal and overlay road treatments to streets throughout the city.

The revitalization of roads in Saugus, Canyon Country, Newhall and Valencia in need of repairs will continue through the summer months. Residents curious about progress can go to the city’s website for an interactive map if their streets will be affected, and if so, the dates and whether it is overlay or slurry seal.

The Road Rehab website also features frequently asked questions and tips for residents to ensure resurfacing goes quickly and efficiently, said city engineer Frank Lujan.

This week is specifically for grinding operations, where the city removes some of the old, cracked layers of asphalt on streets to apply a new layer of asphalt, Lujan said.

Construction may occur anytime between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Slurry seal is a street’s equivalent to applying lotion to dry skin, Lujan said.

The surfacing may be rough initially with loose gravel chips, but the city does street sweeping after the application to smooth it out.

“Asphalt is constantly changing as people drive over it,” he said. “So any street that is slurry sealed is usually in need of preventative treatment to keep the streets from cracking.

Overlay work is for roads that are at a critical point of rehabilitation, Lujan said. At that point, streets have really begun cracking and falling apart, possibly leading of potholes.

Construction happens in the summer when school is out of session because the city wants to minimize the impact that school traffic may have during the other seasons.

The temperatures outside are also better for setting asphalt, as it is slower to set at night or in the cold.

paying close attention to parking notices is advised, he said. There will be detailed notices explaining when the streets will be closed and re-opened throughout the resurfacing process.

The city also advises residents to not run water onto the street the

night before or after construction. Run-off will delay work and damage the new surfacing.

A Frequently Asked Questions section is also available online at at santa-clarita.com/ RoadRehab.