Residents of the pockmarked road way may not be happy to hear it, but Rockwell Street is not part of Kent's 2013 street resurfacing program.
Last month, members of Kent City Council asked city administrators for an update on the status of the road as part of the city’s overall street repaving program.
Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala said, at the time, called it “one of the worst streets in Kent” and said he had been getting a lot of phone calls about it.
Kent Service Director Gene Roberts told council Wednesday night that the city has 907 total street sections that are all ranked by a pavement condition index, which is used to determine a street’s repaving schedule.
“We have a ranking system, and we try to follow the ranking system in the most economical method possible,” he said. “So we may skip a street, but we’ll typically pick it up within a year.”
On a scale of 0 to 100, Rockwell Street’s pavement condition index is 28, which indicates fairly poor pavement condition. The street ranks 67 on the pavement list, which means it’s not schedule for repaving for at least four years.
That repavement would include a complete new asphalt surface with drive apron and curb repairs. The city’s estimated cost to repave the street is about $105,000.
Council asked Roberts if the street could be bumped up on the repaving schedule.
“We can skip over a bunch of your fellow residents to get to you, if you think it’s all right we skip over you later on,” Roberts said. “Because that’s how it’s going to happen.”
Councilman Wayne Wilson asked Roberts if the city could make some “Band-aid” repairs to the street.
“Rockwell is in pretty bad shape,” Wilson said.
Roberts cautioned that making minor maintenance repairs now could mean even longer delays to the complete repairs, as much as 10 years, for the curb, concrete and drive apron work.
The city is planning to fill in potholes on the street this year, Roberts said.
“We’re doing as much as we can this summer … Every day there’s a crew out there working,” he said.
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