Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda for June 25, 2023
This past week, I spent almost all my walk time observing the massive repaving and safety upgrade project that started last Monday on Encinal Avenue. The 1.5-mile project starts at Sherman Street and runs all the way to Broadway.
In the first week, the crew ground off all the asphalt from the street along the entire length of the project, except for the intersections, and laid down the first layer of the new roadway. I was there to watch the entire process.
Since I know you are wondering, this week is a special video feature about how they do it.
First, you get a big noisy grinder thing and a whole lot of trucks. The trucks drive in front of the grinder and a conveyor belt loads the ground up street into the truck. The two vehicles need to work together. The grinder operator honks his horn once for the truck to stop moving and twice for it to move forward. You can hear it in the video below.
Once the street has been ground down, a sweeper truck goes by to clean up any loose pieces. It is followed by truck that sprays oil on the roadway which prepares it for the base layer of asphalt. That is one smelly process. Not a job I would want to do.
Finally, a big rollie thing smooths out the fresh asphalt.
At the end of the day, the crew goes around putting yellow and white industrial strength “Post-It Notes” like structures on the new street to temporarily mark the lanes.
The crew had a little extra time at the end of the week, so they started grinding the intersection at Chestnut Avenue. I was there to cover it. According to what the NO PARKING signs say, the project will be completed by July 18.
For those of you that are concerned about the portion of the 4th of July parade route that runs along Encinal Avenue from Grand Street to Sherman Street, it looks like that portion should be completely done and ready for all the entries by the 4th of July. Editor’s Note: the 2023 July 4th Parade has been re-routed to Central Avenue and will not be going along Encinal Avenue at all.
While I was out reporting, I learned that Encinal Avenue is State of California Highway 61, which means CalTrans is paying for all this work. This also explains why there have been so many Highway Patrol cruisers in the city.
I will continue to follow up on the process of this major infrastructure project.
Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda
Mouf and his human companion can be reached via [email protected]. Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/. All photos by Jeff Cambra.
