Following the San Jose City Council’s recent decision to make the controversial Lincoln Avenue road diet permanent, construction crews spent the last couple of weeks resurfacing and restriping the street with reflective paint.

Although only the section of Lincoln between Coe and Minnesota avenues has been reconfigured from two lanes in each direction to one each way with a middle turn lane, the resurfacing work stretched to San Carlos Street, said Armando Gonzalez from the city’s transportation department.

Ultimately, Lincoln will be resurfaced all the way down to Janis Way, he added.

The resurfacing treatment was supposed to happen last year but got postponed while city officials studied the experimental road diet’s impacts on commute times, speeding and business profits.

“Lincoln was planned for pavement treatment prior to the decision to pilot the road diet and the decision to make permanent markings on the roadway,” transportation deputy director Diane Milowicki said in an interview.

The microsurfacing treatment, a mix of asphalt “oil” and finely crushed rock, not only improves the road’s appearance and skid resistance but also can extend the life of a road by eight years, Milowicki said.

“In general, a newly constructed road is expected to last approximately 20 years before it would fall into poor condition and would need to be resurfaced or rehabilitated if no preventive maintenance is done on the road,” she said.

The road’s lifespan can be significantly extended if preventive maintenance work is done before it begins to deteriorate, Milowicki said, adding that sealing treatment is usually recommended seven or eight years after the new pavement is poured.

“This could potentially be repeated three more times, essentially doubling the life of the original pavement,” she said, adding that resealing is a “very cost-effective approach for extending the life of the pavement” since fixing a badly damaged road usually costs four to five times as much as a reseal.

Lincoln was an ideal candidate for the treatment because it was in good to fair condition, Milowicki said.

Resurfacing the entire stretch of Lincoln Avenue between San Carlos Street and Janis Way–a little more than nine lane miles–will cost approximately $1 million. That estimate includes updates to make ramps comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, striping, curb and gutter work, and green bike lanes.

District 6 Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio also paid $10,000 from his office budget last week to tear out and add 64 new decorative bike racks on Lincoln to complement the road work and beautify the area.