Microsurfacing & Road Diets

Micro-surfacing

Micro-surfacing is a kind of super slurry seal.  It is a powerful tool for helping an agency dig its way out of a pavement condition backlog or dramatically and cost-effectively extend the life of higher PCI pavements.  These relatively new and evolving products use polymer modified performance graded asphalt emulsions and proprietary chemical packages that allow night placement and rapid opening to traffic.   The resulting surface for urban streets can be very smooth and extremely durable.  The black box aspect of these products is concerning to some agencies.  Complete Pavements has extensive experience in managing micro-surfacing construction contracts and can help agencies develop contract documents and specifications that will get the desired product and product performance, attract quality contractors, and create a competitive bid environment.

Road Diets

Complete streets is the concept of designing streets for all modes, ages, and mobility.  When designing a new roadway or doing a major reconstruction on an existing roadway, the complete streets concept extends beyond the pavement surface to include wide sidewalks, park strips, landscaping, and street furniture.  This can include ROW acquisition and the costs can be significant.  However, communities dramatically increase the “completeness” of their streets by just adjusting the striping on their existing pavement surface.  Four to three lane conversions or “road diets” are an example of this.  This can create space for bicycles and safer space for wheelchairs, a buffer to the pedestrian, calm traffic, and reduce accident rates.  Complete Pavements can help agencies use preventive maintenance to achieve these goals.