By Erik Fay,
Viewpoint staff writer
The resurfacing of Curtis Park’s streets has been in progress since mid-October, and, as residents know, it’s not done. But it is over for now. Delays were caused by heavy rain in October, and now temporary measures have been taken until work can resume in March, weather permitting. Slow progress on resurfacing Curtis Park streets brings concerns In addition to the delays, neighbors have complained to the City about damage to their cars from the loose gravel and the sticky tar. Some people have complained about the quality of the work. Similar delays and complaints have occurred in Land Park.
Generally, the Curtis Park streets being resurfaced are south of Donner Way and on both sides of the park. The work is being done by Valley Slurry Seal of West Sacramento. When it started in mid-October, the company said the project would take up to four days and would include scraping the existing street surface, applying a new surface, applying a cape seal to smooth the new surface, and then painting dividing lines and other symbols onto the street.
Unfortunately, the work continued into mid November and then was halted until spring. Residents on some streets have been caught in the in-between stage of resurfacing. Streets cannot be wet or full of leaves during the application of the new surface. So some neighbors have had their streets scraped, which results in loose gravel, but now have to wait for the resurfacing.
According to the City’s Public Works website, the only scheduled work for Curtis Park after Nov. 18 was sidewalk work on 24th Street between Coleman Way and Sutterville Road.
Comments from the city media person cleared up some confusion over newly painted street lines and bicycle images on streets that still have rough surfaces. She also told the Viewpoint that the seal applied on streets in Curtis Park is only a temporary seal and the paint at stops, speed humps, etc. is also only temporary. Again, this is due to the weather. The streets have NOT received a final sweeping to pick up the gravel and tar pieces that are all over and rough. If the rain continues, a permanent seal and permanent paint markers would not be applied until March.
Questions regarding street resurfacing work can be addressed by calling the City of Sacramento’s Associate Civil Engineer for the street resurfacing project at 916 808–7035. Claims regarding tar residue on cars may be initiated by calling 916 373–1500.