Rubberized Cape Seal (Grant Road)

The City's Rubberized Cap Seal Project includes asphalt repairs, concrete ramp improvements, re-striping and other preventative street maintenance along Grant Road, between Grant Road and Homestead Road. Concrete ramps along Grant Road, between Grant Road and Homestead Road, will be improved to be in compliance with current policy. The asphalt roadway is then scheduled for preventive maintenance consisting of an asphalt rubberized chip seal and slurry seal, which becomes a final product known as a cape seal. Striping along the road will be improved to include a bike lane in each direction of traffic. 

Purpose of Street Resurfacing Project

Preventive maintenance is the key to long term street maintenance, as it is more economical to maintain the quality of roadways than allow streets to deteriorate to the point they require more costly reconstruction. Each street in the City’s 110-mile roadway system is inspected regularly to assess its condition. The condition of individual streets combined with the amount and type of traffic using the street determine the type of preventive maintenance that is most appropriate. Grant Road is a collector street that has qualified for federal grant funding, One Bay Area Grant (OBAG).

The purpose of this work is to:

1. improve concrete ramps to be in compliance with current ADA laws
2. improve street striping per City of Los Altos Transportation Bike Plan over the newly treated surface by the process of cape seal. 

The cape seal material is intended to seal the surface of the existing pavement to prevent water intrusion into the underlying base rock and soil; this will also rejuvenate the surface of the pavement. The cape seal is a two-step process which starts with an application of the rubberized asphalt chip base followed within a week by a slurry seal coat - an application of a thin mixture of oil, water and sand on the existing street surface.  

Anticipated Traffic Impacts

This project is anticipated to begin on a weekday by mid-May 2016 and be completed by August 2016. On the day work is performed, it may be necessary to temporarily close the street to all traffic between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The contractor will place barricades and issue notices to the immediately impacted residents and business at least 48 hours prior to the start of work, specifying the details of scheduled work including information on any planned street closures. The street will be open to traffic as soon as possible to minimize inconvenience to residents and commuters.  Please also note that closures do not apply to emergency vehicles such as ambulances or fire trucks.

Temporary “NO PARKING” signs will be posted on barricades throughout the work area. These signs will be posted at least 48-hours in advance of when it is necessary to have the street cleared of all vehicles. Any vehicles parked in violation of these signs will be towed (at owner’s expense) in order to accomplish the work.  

Questions about this project may be directed to the City of Los Altos Engineering Division at (650) 947-2780.