See if your San Jose street is on the list for repairs this year

Click the arrow at upper left to see the legend for this interactive map.

San Jose drivers sick of bouncing over teeth-rattling potholes and bumping along rough roads can expect a smoother ride this year.

The city is gearing up to resurface and seal some 300 miles of streets, from major arteries such as Hellyer Avenue in southeast San Jose to dozens of quiet neighborhood streets in Santee east of Kelley Park.

“As our population grows and urban centers become denser, it’s crucial that we seize opportunities like paving projects to design streets that serve our future needs,” Jessica Zenk, acting deputy director of planning and project delivery at the city’s Department of Transportation, said in a statement.

For years, that hasn’t always been possible. Although voters passed the Measure B sales tax in 2016 in part because of the promise of road repairs, those funds had been tied up in a legal challenge until recently. Between that and budget cuts at City Hall, residents haven’t seen much more than emergency maintenance on neighborhood streets since about 2012 as the city focused on keeping major roads that carry most of the traffic in decent shape.

Now, some 200 miles of smaller streets are scheduled for repair in 2019, along with 88 miles of major streets. And next year, funds from Measure T — a bond measure passed by San Jose residents in 2018 — also will be available, allowing even more resurfacing and sealing.

Residents can find an interactive map of current pavement projects on the city’s Department of Transportation website.

“I look forward to spotting road repaving crews across San Jose starting this spring,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement.

All in all, residents can expect three times the amount of pavement work this year compared to last year.

Beginning around May and running through about Thanksgiving, crews will be working on the roads. Some streets in bad shape will be resurfaced, which involves grinding off the surface and replacing the asphalt. The result lasts longer but is more expensive, so where possible, crews will be sealing streets instead. That involves fixing problem areas and then putting on a coat of slurry that eventually smooths out as people drive on it.

“It’s the best use of money,” said Colin Heyne, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

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Families that live on streets due for repair will get a two-week notice and then a 48-hour notice, along with specific details. But Heyne cautioned that residents who fail to get their cars out of the way can cause major delays. Last year, so many residents left their vehicles in areas marked for repair that the city didn’t have the capacity to tow all of them and get started on time.

“We need cars moved off the street,” Heyne said, “before we start paving.”

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