(August 16, 2022) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) begins resurfacing streets within Northeast Portland's Russell neighborhood on Monday, Aug. 29. The slurry seal road treatment will bring a smoother ride to approximately 30 lane miles of neighborhood streets. Work is expected to be complete by Thursday, Sept. 8.
Crews will put down a slurry seal on neighborhood streets as part of PBOT's regular preventive maintenance program. By identifying roads that are in roads in good-to-fair condition, crews can perform quick, low-impact repairs to the road surface. This slurry seal work extends the lifespan of a road by at least six years.
Work schedule and traffic impacts during construction
Slurry seal road treatment is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. No weekend work is anticipated for this microsurfacing project. PBOT's Pavement Resurfacing and Preservation website provides a detailed block-by-block schedule of the slurry seal work.
How long will this disrupt a street segment?
Slurry seal can be applied to road surfaces on a block-by-block basis and only requires three to four hours time to cure before reopening the road to motor vehicle traffic. For people walking or rolling, street access should reopen an hour after the slurry seal has been applied.
Neighbors will notice "no parking" signs along streets 48-72 hours before work is scheduled to start. This is to ensure the streets are clear of any cars so the crews can quickly repair the road. Cars that are not moved will be towed outside of the project area at no cost to the car owner.
About microsurfacing
Microsurfacing is an effective treatment method in road maintenance regularly used by PBOT. Applying a slurry seal is a very similar process. Both methods are primarily used on street surfaces that need repairs but are not yet bad enough to warrant full reconstruction. This process releases fewer greenhouse gases and is less than half as energy-intensive as traditional resurfacing methods. Both methods of road maintenance reduce the life-cycle cost of road repair by at least 25 percent.
Microsurfacing projects have a smaller impact on neighborhoods as the new surface is applied to the road within an hour. After the road surface has set, we'll open it up for traffic and on-street parking, this typically takes four hours.