Jim Moody loves living in Redmond. An avid bicyclist, he likes what the city has done with some of its multi-use trails, such as in Dry Canyon Park and the Homestead Canal Trail the city is in the process of extending.

But one thing irks him — the condition of the bike lanes on some city streets after they are chip-sealed.

“I don’t like to ride on it,” Moody said. “It seems they are chip sealing the major arteries in Redmond, and when they do it, they are taking away the bicycle lanes.”

But the city, which hires Deschutes County to handle its chip-sealing, says it is working on ways to make the process easier on bicyclists. According to the city, Redmond paid the county $269,388 this year to chip seal 6.25 miles of road.

“Chip-sealing is such a cost-effective way to maintain our roads,” City Engineer Mike Caccavano said. “We don’t want to give that up, but we’ve been trying to balance to make it good for all users.”

Chip-sealing involves applying liquid asphalt to seal a road, according to the county. A layer of chipped rock is then applied to protect the seal and improve driver traction. Chip-seal is designed to help keep roads from becoming brittle and losing its ability to bend and flex.

In the short term, the loose gravel can mean scratches for cars when they drive on the chip-sealed streets. But over time, the cars smooth out the roads. Moody said that is harder to do for bicycles, which weigh less and drive over the streets in lower frequency.

“Three months after chip-sealing, cars start to wear down their portion,” said Moody, 67. “What happens over time is the chips from the chip-seal get thrown over to the bike lane. We bicyclists are riding along that like riding on a gravel road.”

Street chip-sealed this year were NW 19th Street, W Antler Avenue, SW Black Butte Boulevard, Rimrock Way, SW Reservoir Drive and SW 23rd, SW 27th and SW 17th streets, said Brad Haynes, transportation crew supervisor for the city.

Moody has concerns about children riding their bikes to school on chip-sealed streets.

“It’s slippery, kids might not be as proficient at riding bicycles,” he said. “If you fall, you’re going to get skinned up pretty bad.”

Moody points to the county-owned Old Bend-Redmond Highway south of town as a road with well-maintained bike lanes.

In an email to bicyclists, Caccavano said the city has received several comments about chip sealing this year. He discussed the issue with the city’s transportation division manager, public works director and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Need for chip-sealing

Chip-sealing is a cost effective way for the city to extend the life of its streets, Caccavano wrote. Redmond uses a 3/8-inch chip seal rock on its main arterial streets because of traffic volume. While using a smaller quarter-inch rock produces a smoother ride, it does not hold up as well.

“Three-eighths is a good compromise,” Caccavano told the Spokesman. “It’s not too large, and it does settle in pretty well.”

The larger rock is expected to last for seven years, compared to just three for the quarter inch rock, Caccavano wrote in his email.

“The problem is that the streets that need the larger rock also have bike lanes,” he wrote. “Deschutes County does our chip seals for us, but they have a lot of miles to cover and their time is limited.”

In addition, Redmond faced challenges with chip sealing this year because of weather, Caccavano wrote. And workers sometimes laid down a little too much rock in an effort to finish the job before dark.

Possible solutions

The city is looking at several ways to help the bike lanes hold up during chip-sealing, Caccavano wrote. It experimented with using a double chip seal on SW 17th Street between SW Lava and SW Quartz avenues. That method used half-inch rock first with quarter-inch rock on top.

“The problem with this is that it costs twice as much and impacts the residents twice,” he wrote.

The city has also asked the county about chip-sealing only vehicle lanes, while using a smooth seal coat on the bike lanes. Caccavano said the county has tried this on a few county roads but hasn’t had the time to do it on Redmond streets.

Redmond has also looked at Microsealing, an alternative to chip sealing that’s used in Bend. Caccavano said it produces a smoother ride but is unsure about its cost and lifespan.

The city plans to look at using a seal coat over bike lanes next year and also use a small roller to run over the bike lanes to give the lanes compaction seen in car lanes, Caccavano said.

“Bottom line, we are looking at ways to make the town more bike friendly, while making sure the streets stay in good shape,” Caccavano wrote.

Moody now tries to avoid riding the recently chip-sealed streets, but he sometimes has no choice. He said he has to put himself in danger riding the vehicle lanes on the chip-sealed streets and move over when traffic passes.

But he appreciates the work Caccavano and others in Redmond are doing on the streets.

“I salute him for being an advocate for cyclists,” Moody said. “I commend him for the possible solutions. I just hope it can come to fruition.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com