Burton Valley Residents See Red Over Street Paving Project

Residents are usually thrilled to get a newly-paved road. But in Lafayette's Burton Valley, some folks are downright furious. 

Instead of the usual asphalt most streets are paved with, Burton Valley residents received a chip seal, which is a rubberized layer of liquid asphalt topped with rocks. The surface is far less smooth and attractive than a newly-paved asphalt road.

And it is not going over well with many residents. 

"The finished product is horrible," said Kari Trimble of Silverado Drive. "It's like a gravel road."

But City Manager Steve Falk, in a letter to residents, said that while he understands their concern and frustration, the city simply doesn't have the money to repave lightly-traveled neighborhood streets with asphalt.

He said that ballot measured to increase taxes for road repairs in 2004, 2007, and 2011 all failed to pass. Consequently, the city has had to find ways to keep the roads operable in a cost-effective manner.

"Given the voters’ unwillingness to fund a road replacement program, the City Council deliberated on the matter and chose what is, by all accounts, a second-best strategy:  extend the life of the existing roads by using a variety of coating treatments, with the treatment itself dictated by the amount of traffic on the street," Falk wrote in his letter to residents. 

However, if a neighborhood wants a better surface, they have that option--if they are willing to pay for it. Falk said each street receiving chip-seal has an estimate for slurry seal, a smoother alternative, though not as nice as asphalt. If the neighbors kick in half the cost, they can get a better road.

"I'm appalled by the way City of Lafayette has handled this and then to ask us to pay is ridiculous," said Trimble, who said she and her neighbors plan to agendize the issue at the Aug. 5 City Council meeting.