The city of Santa Maria is advising motorists that temporary, short delays will occur on various Santa Maria streets due to the annual street-maintenance chip seal program beginning Monday, Sept. 11 and continuing through the end of the month. The most notable streets affected include:

Cook Street from Blosser to Broadway (State Hwy. 135); College Drive from Stowell to Boone; Miller Street from Betteravia to Inger; sections of Alvin Avenue from Broadway (State Hwy. 135) to Suey Road; and Donovan Road from Carlotti to Suey Crossing Road.

Various other smaller streets will be resurfaced as well.

Construction will move quickly from street to street, the city reports. Parking will not be allowed in active construction areas. The contractor will post construction notices along streets with the dates and times when parking will be prohibited.

The work includes removal of existing traffic striping, placement of a chip seal with a surface seal, then re-establishment of traffic striping.

The city has contracted with Intermountain Slurry Seal to perform the $500,000 project. About 175,000 square yards of chip seal will be applied, which is about 6.5 centerline miles of streets.

Chip seal is a thin layer road maintenance treatment consisting of asphalt oil covered by small chip rock that protects and extends pavement life.

Within three days of the chip application, a sprayed-on coat of surface seal called a fog seal is applied. The road is opened to traffic immediately after chip spreading, but traffic will be impacted temporarily during the fog seal application for a short curing period.

City staff recommends drivers obey all temporary construction signs and reduce driving speeds in construction areas. Motorists might experience delays during construction. Use of alternate routes whenever possible is recommended to avoid delays and minimize inconveniences.

Direct questions to the Department of Public Works, engineering division, 925-0951 ext. 2225.

— Mark van de Kamp for city of Santa Maria.