Couser Cyn. Road to get rubberized resurfacing - Median rumble strips possible for four area roads

A future road contract will provide for rubberized emulsion asphaltic slurry resurfacing on various county-maintained roads, including 4.94 miles of Couser Canyon Road, and will also install centerline rumble strips on various county roads, including four Greater Fallbrook roads if conditions are optimal for their installation.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 October 20 to authorize the advertisement for bid and subsequent award of a contract for slurry sealing of 67.70 miles of road and for rumble strip installation on a preliminary list of 11 county roads.

The list of roads designated for rumble strips may be changed if road conditions call for an upcoming repaving contract, if utility or other conflicts make rumble strips on any planned roads less feasible, or if bid results cause additional or fewer segments to be covered.

The county’s Department of Public Works (DPW) prioritizes road and storm drain pipe replacement through a pavement management system which utilizes both field review and mechanical data. Visual assessments of the degree and type of cracking or other surface defects are complemented by pavement management software, which validates and categorizes surface distress.

Rubberized sealing does not have the full noise reduction benefits of rubberized asphalt concrete paving, although Department of Public Works staff do not have exact noise reduction data for rubberized emulsion asphaltic slurry.

“We haven’t really measured the slurry versus the asphalt concrete, but I think we can safely say there is a reduction,” said DPW deputy director Mike Robinson. “There are some noise-deadening components because there is rubber in there.”

Over the long term rubberized asphalt concrete decreases noise by four to six decibels; while the sound reduction is not as significant during the later period of the rubberized paving lifecycle, there is still a net reduction of noise.

The longevity benefits of rubberized surfacing exist for both slurry sealing and repaving.

“This type of treatment saves a lot of money in the long run toward repair,” Robinson said. “It extends the lifetime of the pavement underneath the slurry.”

That allows for more road segments to be covered in the long term.

“We can get many more miles than if we overlay a road with an asphalt concrete product,” Robinson said.

Asphalt is a petroleum product, and over time the sun erodes an asphalt surface.

“This slurry seals that top,” Robinson said. “It doesn’t break up.”

Depending on the road, total traffic volume, and truck traffic volume, a rubberized emulsion asphaltic slurry resurfacing will last an expected five to ten years.

Couser Canyon Road is 24 feet wide for the 4.94 miles designated for resurfacing between State Route 76 and Lilac Road.

Rumble strips are intentional deformations in roadway pavement and are typically installed along roadway shoulders, edge lines, and centerlines to alert fatigued, distracted, and inattentive drivers. Centerline rumble strips were installed along South Grade Road, which connects Palomar Mountain to Valley Center and Pauma Valley, in December 2009, and results to date indicate a 20 percent reduction in accidents where vehicles either crossed the centerline or went off the road.

The preliminary list of road segments designated for centerline rumble strips includes 5.0 miles of Pala Temecula Road from Pala Mission Road to the Riverside County line, 4.8 miles of Gopher Canyon Road from East Vista Way to Interstate 15, 9.0 miles of Lilac Road from Old Castle Road to State Route 76, and 4.3 miles of Camino Del Rey from West Lilac Road to Old Highway 395.

The plans and specifications for the slurry resurfacing and rumble strips have been completed. Utility companies have been notified so that they can schedule trenching work on the affected roadway segments before the resurfacing begins or coordinate their work with the county’s project. The planning and sponsor groups in the areas where the work will be performed have also been notified.

The work is scheduled to begin in April 2011 and be completed by November 2011.

To comment on this story online, visit http://www.thevillagenews.com.