Several La Jolla roads to be resurfaced; residents are told to prep for ‘ugly, torn-up streets’

Select La Jolla streets will get a fresh layer of slurry in coming weeks to smooth them out ahead of the busy summer season. The work is independent of a plan to resurface La Jolla Parkway.

The following streets will be worked on:

• Torrey Pines Road between Prospect Place and Girard Avenue

• Prospect Street between Ivanhoe Avenue and approximately Draper Avenue

• Ivanhoe Avenue between Prospect Street and approximately Silverado Street

• Girard Avenue between Prospect Street and Silverado Street

• Fay Avenue between Prospect Street and Kline Street

• Silverado Street between Ivanhoe Avenue and approximately Draper Avenue

• Wall Street between Ivanhoe Avenue and Girard Avenue

Work will begin this week — weather permitting — to mill and prep the streets for slurry seal, a pavement preservation method consisting of asphalt emulsion, sand and rock applied to the surface at an average thickness of a quarter-inch.

Steve Hadley, representing the office of City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, told the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board during its March 27 meeting that “they are going to come in and mill the asphalt in places where it is bad for about a month to prepare it [for the slurry seal]. Then they will come through and do some asphalt patching underneath … and lay down two layers of slurry to bring smooth streets back to this area.”

He said the slurry likely will be laid the first week of May, so before that The Village will see “a month of what is going to feel like ugly, torn-up streets.” The work needs to be finished by May 28 to accommodate the summer construction moratorium from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

“The good news is we will have some nice new streets,” Hadley said. “There are a lot of other streets in La Jolla that need attention, but at least those will begin to get some. But we are in for a month of dust and dirt before we get the streets fixed.”

During that time, temporary markers will identify the lanes, according to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s office.

“After the asphalt repair is completed, drivers may feel the patches, as the new asphalt is slightly higher than the adjacent pavement,” the mayor’s office said. “It is not necessarily rougher and the asphalt will settle to an extent. The installation of the two layers of slurry seal will address this issue in the end.”

A map shows La Jolla streets that are scheduled for slurry seal repair in coming weeks.

(City of San Diego)

Work will overlap with the spring tourism season and the Concours d’Elegance car show April 21-23.

But Hadley said the streets on which the Concours will take place near Scripps Park will not be affected.

He added, though, that “it’s almost impossible to work around all the things that happen [in La Jolla].”

The slurry seal work is not related to the upcoming resurfacing of La Jolla Parkway, which now is slated to start in April. Work had been scheduled to start in March but was pushed back because ambient air temperatures must be above 50 degrees during the nighttime work for the new road material to set properly.

The La Jolla Parkway resurfacing is part of San Diego’s “Sexy Streets” initiative, which aims to fix cracked and crumbling pavement and get potholes plugged. It intends to do so with a focus largely on parts of the city considered underserved — what the city calls “communities of concern.”

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The La Jolla Parkway work was planned to be done in two phases — the first between Hidden Valley Road and La Jolla Scenic Drive North and the second between La Jolla Scenic Drive North and Interstate 5 and State Route 52. But LaCava’s office coordinated with city departments and the California Department of Transportation to have the work done at the same time.

LaCava has said community planning groups will be notified before the work starts “so residents, employees and businesses are alerted to the temporary disruption and delays.”

City spokesman Tyler Becker said March 29 that “recent storms and overnight conditions have prevented the contractor from starting work. The hope is to begin in the coming weeks, but a start date still needs to be confirmed.” ◆