New Asphalt Coming To Three Streets
Now that the underground utility work has been completed, city crews are about to resurface three streets in the North Loop: 1st Street North, 2nd Street North and 4th Street North.
The work is scheduled to begin Monday, September 21st, with crews grinding off the top layer of the streets and then laying down the new asphalt toward the end of the week. The city says this process, known as “mill and overlay,” extends the life of streets between more expensive fixes, and is expected to last about ten years.
The city says, “short term intermittent closures and detours will take place as work progresses on this project.” If you’d like to see a map of the affected areas, the Public Works section of the city’s website includes a “North Loop area” section.
This project will wrap up a nearly complete transformation of North Loop streets. In the span of less than two years, we will have gone from having some of the most poorly-maintained streets in the city to some of the newest and smoothest.
How our streets used to look
Many of the previous issues had to do with the fact that many streets were paved with century-old bricks that sank and shifted over the decades, and patches of asphalt had been laid over them without much improvement. But last year’s extensive overhaul involved lifting those bricks out and then putting them back on a much firmer and more stable surface.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop Neighborhood Association