A series of one-day closures will affect 11 sections of residential streets in the Kingsgate and North Rose Hill neighborhoods starting Aug. 6 through Aug. 9 while Kirkland’s contractor applies a layer of emulsified asphalt, water and fine gravel to their surfaces. This slurry seal process will extend their useful lives by five to 10 years.

The closures will last up to 10 hours, between 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Most, however, will last four to five hours. The city’s contractor, Intermountain Slurry Seal, Incorporated, will post signs one day in advance of the process. The entire slurry seal project encompasses a total of 50 sections of residential streets—14.5 lane-miles of streets—in North Rose Hill and Kingsgate.

The city of Kirkland has been treating residential streets in every neighborhood throughout the city with slurry seal since 2002. Slurry seal prevents moisture from infiltrating the road and undermining its basic structure. It also replenishes the pavement beneath it with aggregate.

However, slurry seal does have its own limitations. Because it requires full closures, the city of Kirkland uses it exclusively on low-volume residential streets and some collector streets. Additionally, because it is not a structural remedy, streets must already be in good condition.

“Its primary function is to keep those roads in good condition,” Kirkland’s Streets Engineer George Minassian, Ph.D., said in a press release. “It’s a classic case of ‘a little maintenance now will prevent costly repairs later.’”

Slurry seal typically costs the City of Kirkland just $1,600 per city block to apply. Repaving costs approximately $17,000 per city block. And rebuilding a road from its base can cost $65,000 per city block.

To see the 2018 slurry seal schedule, visit www.kirklandwa.gov/streetpreservation.