City accommodates school traffic during street maintenance
As the city’s annual slurry seal and overlay program continues this month, students and parents may see mild construction delays for a few weeks.
Construction near James Foster Elementary School is part of the annual project, which started in the summer when school was out of session.
“Unfortunately, the amount of work required for this process could not be completed in the window between the start of construction and the first day of school,” said City Communications Manager Carrie Lujan.
However, she said, city staff and school administrators had established a schedule for the first weeks of school.
Rather than continue with the 7 a.m.-to-4:30 p.m. construction schedule that began in June, the city is limiting construction from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to ensure less crossover with morning drop-off and afternoon pick-ups.
Residents can also expect street parking to be available before and after school.
“This project will enhance safety for students at James Foster, as new permanent crosswalk markings will be added in front of the school,” Lujan said.
Workers in neighborhoods throughout Saugus, Newhall, Valencia and Canyon Country have been applying a mixture of water, small crushed rock and other additives to an existing asphalt pavement surface.
Slurry seal is a street’s equivalent to applying lotion to dry skin, said City Engineer Frank Lujan (no relation to Carrie Lujan). 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.”
The whole rehabilitation project will be done by the end of October, Frank Lujan said.
Overlay work is for roads at a critical point of rehabilitation, Frank Lujan said. At that point, streets have begun cracking and falling apart, possibly leading to potholes.
Residents can go online to the city’s Road Rehab website (santa-clarita. com/RoadRehab) to check which areas are still under construction and which have been completed.