REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Wolfe Road Pavement Options (Information Only)
Report
BACKGROUND
Wolfe Road, between El Camino Real and Homestead Road, was reconstructed in 2001. The typical life for a pavement reconstruction treatment is approximately 15 to 20 years. Typically, when a street is reconstructed, the contractor will install the seams of the lanes of asphalt to coincide with the lane markings. The seams are a weak spot in the pavement and when they are directly in vehicle wheel paths, they can wear prematurely. Matching them with the lane lines helps preserve the life of the pavement, as this is not a direct wearing path for vehicles.
In 2006, the City installed bicycle lanes on Wolfe Road between Fremont Avenue and Homestead Road. However, the width of the roadway was not wide enough to accommodate both on-street parking and bicycle lanes on both sides of the street. The result is today's street configuration, with on-street parking split on each side of the road and a meandering "chicane" configuration (RTC No. 05-132, Attachment 1). The current street configuration deviated the lane lines matching the pavement seams; as a result the roadway has degraded faster than we traditionally see due to the additional wear and tear on the pavement weak points.
In 2016, a study was performed to look at removing on-street parking to install bike lanes on both sides of Wolfe Road. On June 21, 2016, the study results were provided to Council for consideration. The Council voted in favor of leaving the roadway configuration as-is, with direction to staff to look at the completion of the traffic signal at Wolfe/Dartshire (RTC No. 14-0273, Attachment 2). This intersection is currently in the budget with construction targeted in FY 2020/21.
Currently, Wolfe Road's pavement has reached the end of its useful life. However, Wolfe Road is scheduled for undergrounding of overhead utility lines using Rule 20 funding allowing conversion of overhead electric ...
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