City Searches for Potholes, Cracked Pavement in Road Condition Survey

The city began work on it's annual project list of repairing a handful of local streets this week, but for other neighborhoods waiting with potholes and cracked pavement, help is on the way.

Mercer Island city maintenance officials announced on Wednesday that a small bus with a strange-looking bumper might be driving through your neighborhood soon, undertaking a detailed, bi-annual survey of local streets, according to a city press release.

In order to develop long-term plans and budgets for roadway maintenance on the Island, engineering staff must gather information on pavement conditions. The City has contracted with a private company, Infrastructure Management Services (IMS), to complete a detailed inventory in two phases using specialized surveying equipment.

The first phase will measure pavement roughness, rutting, cracking and other surface distresses using a specially modified van that also captures video and tracks exact location using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS). Residents may notice this van traversing all public Island roads during August for several weeks. The second phase consists of establishing the load carrying capacity of specific arterial and collector roadways using several additional devices that measure pavement thickness; August 30 is the expected completion date for all field work.

Once all data are gathered, the City will be able to prioritize key areas for long-term roadway maintenance. For more information, contact City Maintenance Director Glenn Boettcher at 206-275-7802 or glenn.boettcher@mercergov.org.