Street Operations

It is important to the City to have clear, well-maintained and well-lit roads to ensure that traffic flows as smoothly and safely as possible. In order to accomplish that, the City must manage and monitor several factors.

The City manages these street operations:

The City monitors:

  • Sight Distance Triangles - Public and Residential areas

City Street Operations:

  1. Potholes
  2. Signs & Markings
  3. Streetlights
  4. Street Sweeping
  5. Snow & Ice Response

Potholes

Potholes start in cold temperatures when groundwater freezes and expands. Once the ground thaws out, it returns to a normal level, but the pavement pushed up during the ground freeze remains raised. This causes a gap between the pavement and the ground. Vehicles riding over these gaps cause the road surface to crack and fall into that hollow space. To report a pothole, please use the Report an Issue link and include the exact location.

Pavement ManagementPavement Deterioration Graph

  • Maintaining Redmond’s streets helps ensure that the investments made into our roadway infrastructure are preserved. A Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating of at least 70 or better for all streets combined is an indicator of good roadway maintenance. Redmond is currently at a 71 PCI (a preferred level of service), the rating has been declining steadily since about 2003 as infrastructure built in past decades ages. 

The primary reason for the decline is the high cost and frequent maintenance needed for Redmond’s arterial streets. There are 219 lanes miles of arterial streets and 128 lane miles of local streets (each local street has two lanes and arterial streets have multiple lanes.) Compared to either Bellevue or Kirkland, Redmond spends considerably less per lane mile of arterial than either of those jurisdictions, despite having a disproportionately higher number of arterial streets. This is an important distinction for Redmond since the cost to fully maintain an arterial lane mile is about four times as expensive as a local street lane mile.

Crack Sealing Program

  1. Crack Sealing

What is Crack Sealing?Image of unfilled pavement cracks and filled pavement cracks

Crack sealing is a proven pavement preservation technique that can extend the expected life of a roadway by up to 8 years. Crack sealing prevents water from seeping into cracks in the pavement where it can freeze, expand, and damage the pavement. Crack sealing helps reduce structural deterioration, minimize pothole formation, and can prevent pavement distresses. It helps maintain streets in good condition, postponing the day we need to repave or rebuild them.

Why Crack Seal?

 Asphalt crack sealing is a cost-effective way to maintain the roadway surface because it helps to prevent larger maintenance projects down the road. Pavement that continues to deteriorate requires repair and replacement methods that can cost 3-4 times more than crack sealing. Approximately 70% of Redmond’s roadways currently fall within the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) range for crack sealing (70-85). 




Concept of Pavement Preservation

CrackSealCandidatePCI70CrackSealCandidatePCI40

Crack seal candidate (PCI 70)                                                                    Reconstruction required (PCI 40)

When Do We Crack Seal?

Crack sealing is recommended during dry conditions when pavement temperatures are neither too hot nor too cool – generally fall and spring.

  1. Street Selection for Crack Sealing
  1. What to expect
  1. 2021-2022 Crack Sealing Locations
  1. Location Details

Right of Way Herbicide Program

Why the Program is Necessary

The Streets Maintenance Division uses herbicide applications because it is the most efficient and effective means of controlling vegetation in the targeted areas. Targeted areas are comprised of guard rails and rockeries that make mechanical removal using hand tools extremely labor intensive. These areas also have minimal pedestrian traffic. Applying herbicide to these areas saves an estimated 400 hours of staff time compared to mechanical removal while also reducing staff exposure to fast-moving traffic, steep slopes, and other safety hazards. 

How Risks Will Be Mitigated

Herbicide is applied in accordance with the City’s Integrated Pest Management Plan and all applicable state and local regulations. All applications are performed under the supervision of City staff with current Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) certifications. Numerous measures are taken to avoid negative impacts to people, animals, and the environment.

Risks are mitigated by:

  • Using specialized equipment to minimize staff contact and precisely target locations (2 ft along guard rail bases)
  • Avoiding areas at high risk of contact – residences, parks, sensitive persons, creeks, streams, etc.
  • Streams and wetlands will be protected by a 50 ft buffer zone on each side where no herbicides will be used
  • Avoiding all locations that convey or treat stormwater runoff, such as ditches and bioswales (program and targeted locations were reviewed by Environmental Utilities and Services Division staff)
  • Performing operations at night when fewer people are active, and pollinators are dormant
  • Performing operations when wind remains under 5 MPH and rain is not forecast for at least 24 hours 
  • Posting signage at locations where herbicide was applied 

The City is also exploring design changes so that new guardrails are easier to maintain without herbicides, by improving weed suppression and using alternative control methods. 

Where Herbicide Will Be Applied

Areas targeted for herbicide application consist of 4.3 miles of guardrail in 83 locations across the City and selected rockeries. There will also be spot applications to patches of class A and B noxious weeds (species requiring management by King County Integrated Pest Management). 

Signs will be posted identifying areas where herbicide is being applied. 

See the map below for more information on herbicide application locations. 

Map of locations of herbicide application