Mukilteo to discuss new way to repair streets

MUKILTEO — It became an issue in last year’s mayoral race: gravel coming loose from repaired sections of Mukilteo streets, making for bumpy rides and grumpy drivers.

Then-candidate and city Councilwoman Jennifer Gregerson said she’d do something about it if she were to be elected mayor.

Now, Mayor Gregerson says she’s keeping that promise, announcing that the city will try a different way of fixing aging sections of asphalt.

The city plans to apply “bonded wearing course,” or BWC, to sections of 88th Street SW and 92nd Street SW this summer as a pilot project.

City officials are scheduled to discuss the new method, and street maintenance in general, at a public meeting set for 6 p.m. Monday at Mukilteo City Hall, 11930 Cyrus Way.

The BWC technique involves applying a layer of gooey, petroleum-based polymer to the roadway and spreading a layer of hot asphalt on top.

The previous method, chip seal, also starts with the petroleum polymer but employs raw gravel on top instead of asphalt. The rocks eventually can loosen and separate from the bottom layer, Mukilteo public works director Rob McGaughey said.

In the bonded wearing course method, the steaming asphalt draws the polymer upward to permeate the asphalt and bond the two layers together, he said.

“The ride will be smooth, it won’t make as much noise, there won’t be any rocks that pop off,” McGaughey said.

The tradeoff is that BWC costs about twice as much as chip seal — $7 to $8 per square yard compared to $3.50 to $4.

The city plans to apply BWC to 88th Street SW from 44th Avenue W. to 60th Avenue W. and on 92nd Street SW from 44th to the Mukilteo Speedway. The work is expected to cost a combined $150,000. The two streets were next in line to be chip sealed.

On the upside, the BWC method lasts twice as long as chip seal — 15 to 20 years compared to seven to 10, depending on traffic and roadway condition, McGaughey said.

Full roadway repaving is more involved, costs about $15 per square yard and lasts longer, up to 30 years, he said.

Cash-strapped cities have increasingly turned to chip seal in recent years as a low-cost alternative to repaving, according to McGaughey.

“Cities have not been doing street maintenance, they’ve been deferring it,” he said. “The roads are starting to fall apart and show the wear from non-maintenance.”

Bonded wearing course is basically a cross between chip seal and full repaving, said Nick Barrett, area sales manager for Telfer Oil in Martinez, Calif. The city of Mukilteo is hiring the company to help with the project.

“You’re getting the best of both worlds,” Barrett said.

California roadways where BWC was applied back in 1998 are still performing well, he said.

The BWC method is little used in Western Washington, partly because of the short paving season here, McGaughey said. It takes special equipment, and few contractors here, if any, know how to do it.

Telfer Oil either will come up and do the paving itself or loan the equipment to a local contractor and provide assistance, Barrett said.

“Our goal is to keep the local people up there on the ground working,” he said.

Public response to the work on the two streets will help determine whether to continue the method in the future, city officials said.

“We need to look at the long run when we assess how we take care of our streets for the next 10 to 20 years,” Gregerson said.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; bsheets@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.