Few people are fans of road construction but even fewer are fans when deteriorating roads damage their cars or result in even longer delays.

Banicki Construction is conducting preventative road maintenance on State Route 89A between Forest Road and just north of Art Barn Lane in Uptown. The work continues through the end of this week.

Work has been primarily occurring during nighttime hours from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. when traffic is minimal. The project will seal coat approximately 2,100 feet of existing roadway along with parking areas and loading zones adjacent to to the highway. Additionally, all parking bumpers along State Route 89A will be replaced with new decorative, recycled rubber car stops.

“This preventative maintenance follows our Uptown Paving Project that was completed last summer, and displays another way we work to provide well-maintained and aesthetic streets and parking for our residents and visitors,” said Stephen Craver, engineering supervisor for the city of Sedona.

As to the work being done, Craver said, “It is typical practice to provide a seal coat approximately one to two years after placing new asphalt as preventative maintenance. This project will accomplish that goal related to the Uptown Paving Project, which paved the traveled lanes, and was completed in July 2015. In addition, we will be seal coating the on-street parking areas and loading zones, resulting in a full-width pavement finish.”

He said that unlike the Uptown Paving Project, this operation will be less intrusive in terms of number of construction vehicles and anticipated noise. There will only be one commercial vehicle that lays down the fresh oil, with workers sweeping behind. Once the seal coat is applied, driveways are closed for approximately four hours while the oil dries. Doing this at night has a less significant impact on hotels and merchants.

“We did not receive any concerns from hotels or merchants,” Craver said when it was decided the majority of work would be done at night. “All hotels and businesses that are directly affected by the temporary closures were contacted, and seemed to understand that the nature of this work is easier to conduct at night, to reduce the overall impacts.  While driveways are closed, vehicles will be able to park on the opposite side of the roadway, and utilize the crosswalks, which will not have seal coat applied.”

Work already completed this week has included seal coating the northbound lane and adjacent parking and loading zones, the center lane and the southbound lane between Arroyo Roble Drive to the north past Art Barn Lane and the southbound lane from Forest Road to Arroyo Roble Drive and the Jordan Road intersection.

Work yet to be completed includes:

• Survey for new striping during the day of Wednesday, June 29.
• Place temporary striping during the evenings of Wednesday, June 29, and Thursday, June 30.
• Place permanent striping and repaint the crosswalks on the evenings of Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 1 and 2,  once the new seal coat has fully cured.

The city encourages that patrons and merchants plan ahead, as access to and from driveways and parking areas on State Route 89A will be restricted for a period of time once the seal coat is applied to allow for dry time. Portable lights will be used to aid with visibility and safety. Motorists can expect minor delays, and are encouraged to reduce speeds through work areas, maintain a safe distance from work vehicles and be cautious of fresh oil.