The city of Kent will spend about $1.43 million to replace an asphalt road with concrete along 80th Avenue South between South 196th Street and South 190th Street.
The City Council unanimously approved on Feb. 7 a low-bid contract with Pacific-based Titan Earthwork for the pavement rehabilitation project. Funds from the city’s business and occupation tax will pay for the replacement.
“Work is expected to start in the spring and should be done in the summer or fall,” said Joe Araucto, city pavement management engineer, in an email. “There are several businesses in the area that operate 24/7 and we’ll be working closely with them to minimize impact to their operations.”
Concrete will last much longer than an asphalt road. The street sits on the north end of the city in an industrial zone and handles a lot of truck traffic as a north-south route between South 196th Street and South 180th Street.
“This concrete street is expected to last 50 to 75 years, which is at least three times the life of a comparable section of asphalt pavement,” Araucto said.
It’s been several years since the city put in a concrete street.
“This will be one of the first streets we are planning to do in concrete since we did Veterans Drive – and it turned out well,” said Tim LaPorte, city public works director, in his report to the council. “We are very pleased to do this road in concrete. Just like Veterans Drive it will be able to last forever. It will be very sustainable.”
Eight companies submitted bids to the city. A city engineer estimated the project cost at $1.18 million.
“The pavement is very degraded, it has a very high water table,” LaPorte said. “Days like today (Feb. 7 after snow covered the city streets), when it thaws this street will turn to absolute rubble.”
The street has many problems after heavy rain or snow.
“When a truck drives over a wet asphalt road it’s like driving over a wet sponge and it all comes up and falls apart,” said LaPorte in a 2015 report to the council about the street.
The city’s street project list for this year also includes two other plans to replace asphalt with concrete – along East James Street between Central Avenue and Jason Street at an estimated cost of $1.4 million and at the intersection of South 212th Street and 72nd Avenue South at a cost of about $1 million. Contracts have not yet been awarded for those projects.
The council adopted a B&O tax in 2014 to help pay for street improvements. The tax brings in about $7.5 million per year to the city.
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