Public Works
Public Works Blog
Will the chip sealing crew be in your area this summer?
Posted On: June 15, 2020
Chelan County road crews have been busy prepping roadways scheduled for chip sealing this year. If you look closely, there are some tell-tale signs that the crews will be on your road in the coming weeks.
The first clue may be the sight of crack sealing on your roadway. That spidery black sealant over roadway cracking means the crew may have been by recently (you may have even seen them working). Crack sealing is done to prep a road for chip sealing.
Driving along a road, you may also spot another clue. Crews have been putting utility ID locators and coverings over utility cases and lids to protect them from the oil products we apply during chip sealing (see the photo above). They are removed a couple of weeks after a road is chip sealed.
The coverings and lids include a 3-inch rubber piece that sticks out from the stop of the cases. While the coverings may look like a spike, really they are just a piece of rubber. So no need to dodge them in the roadway.
The third clue is right on our website, where we've posted the information for you.
The list of roads up for chip sealing this year is available in a couple of places on our website. We’ve mapped them out on GIS (both 2020 and 2021 preservation roads) as well as provided them in PDF form. Our Pavement Preservation Program page also goes over what to expect when the crew is in your neighborhood. And, if you’d like a map of the road districts, we have that online as well.
This year, the crew will start chip sealing the week of June 22. Road crews will begin in the Cashmere District and then make their way to the Leavenworth District. After Leavenworth, they will head to the Chelan District and then wrap up in the Wenatchee District.
Crews expect to complete chip sealing in early August; however, weather and equipment performance may delay or change that schedule. Some years, wildfires have also impacted our schedule. We will try to post weekly to our Facebook page to let you know where the crews are working.
When you do come upon a road preservation crew, please use caution. Flaggers will be directing traffic, which will be at one lane. There are always some traffic delays with preservation, but they are minor. If you can, it’s best to avoid a roadway while the preservation crew works.
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