Bend’s street preservation season starts with Skyliners-Mt. Washington roundabout

Rubberized chip seal to be tried in neighborhoods west of Pilot Butte

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The city of Bend’s 2021 season street preservation work begins next Monday with reconstruction of the roundabout at Skyliners Road and Mount Washington Drive.

Contractors will be repaving the intersection, and the work must be completed by April 23. Detours will be marked. Travelers should plan ahead and allow for extra time to accommodate the detour.

The city is preparing to do about $2.8 million worth of street preservation work this summer that will improve about 74.5 lane miles in Bend. This includes inlay/overlay, chip seal, a new rubberized chip seal and slurry seal treatments.

The city said its “Keep Good Roads Good” philosophy means they maintain and preserve streets with the most cost-effective treatment for the road condition — the right treatment at the right time. Maintenance treatments include:

• Inlays and overlays – Old asphalt is ground out and replaced or a new layer of asphalt is paved on top of existing roadway. The process can take a couple of days.
• Slurry – A treatment for low-volume residential streets. One-day closures typically expected.
• Chip seals, including rubberized chip seal – Hot oil and rock are applied to the road. Rolling, short term closures expected.

A road’s condition helps the city determine maintenance plans. The worst roads need full reconstruction. Reconstruction is exponentially more expensive than maintenance, which is not an efficient use of maintenance funds and more likely to be paid for as part of a larger Capital Improvement Program.

“The city is continually trying new tools to find the most effective and efficient treatments. This year we’re trying a new durable pavement road treatment that uses recycled scrap tire material,” said Transportation & Mobility Director David Abbas.

“We will treat about 14 lane miles of residential roads just west of Pilot Butte with this rubberized chip seal. This means we are recycling and keeping approximately 3,600 tires from going into the landfill. Depending on the treatment’s performance, we may expand to busier streets in future years.”

To learn more about Bend’s street preservation practices, visit www.bendoregon.gov/streetpreservation, which includes an interactive map about this summer’s plans.