By Sara Beth Williams–
Sections of more than 100 roads in Citrus Heights are slated to have resurfacing work performed this year and next, after the Citrus Heights City Council approved an $8 million contract with Valley Slurry Seal International, Inc.
The total project could cost over $9 million with a recommended contingency added.
Funding for the project comes from the gas tax, the city’s General Fund, Measure A Maintenance funds, Senate Bill 1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account 206, and the City of Roseville, which will contribute an estimated $13,500.
Roseville’s contribution will cover the partial resurfacing of Whyte Avenue from Roseville Road to Crescendo Drive.
Preparations have already been going on throughout 2024 and 2025 on multiple streets in order to prepare them for resurfacing in 2026, including storm drain, sidewalk, and ADA repairs, and the crack sealing of 72 streets.
Accessibility regulations require the city to upgrade curb ramps, according to City Engineer Leslie Blomquist. Through the 2025 accessibility and storm drainage project, the city is spending just over $3 million on upgrading and repairing 128 accessible curb ramps, 7,800 feet of sidewalk, 1,700 feet of curb and gutters, and 2,300 linear feet of storm drain repairs, according to Blomquist.
Through the rest of 2025 and 2026, the city expects to complete resurfacing on 125 streets in seven different phases or zones. The project will include some localized pavement repairs, which remove some asphalt and replace it before putting a top layer of resurfacing on.
The project will include resurfacing through either a slurry seal or a multi-layer surfacing and then updated restriping.
During a presentation to the City Council on Wednesday, Aug. 27, Blomquist shared a map of seven zones with highlighted streets expected to receive resurfacing. Streets in zones colored yellow will receive multi-layer resurfacing, and streets in zones colored blue will receive slurry seals.
The first zone is expected to be completed by the end of October and includes resurfacing Antelope Road from the western city limits near Saybrook Drive to Lauppe Lane, as well as resurfacing Tupelo Drive from Antelope Road to Millwood Drive and Lichen Drive from Antelope Road to Brimstone Drive. Phase one of resurfacing is scheduled to be done at night.
Other zones will be completed throughout 2026, including roadways around Mesa Verde High School, Carriage Drive Elementary, and Lichen K-8. The city will “strongly encourage” the contractor to work during school breaks, Blomquist said.
Other zones will be repaved following as closely as possible the repairs of accessibility ramps. with most of the resurfacing being completed during the day except Oak Avenue, which the city said is likely to be resurfaced at night due to the high volume of traffic.
Of the $8 million dollars in the contract approved last Wednesday, $1.4 million will go toward mill-and-fill, $800,000 will go toward slurry seals, $4.5 million is expected to go toward multi-layer resurfacing, and $1.275 million will go toward upgraded restriping following the resurfacing of streets.
The three-year pavement preservation plan, which was adopted in 2023, identifies specific streets for resurfacing. The historic approach, Blomquist said, was to find the worst streets in the city and repave them, which was a “very costly approach” that led to very few streets getting repaved each year.
The goal of the Three-Year Preservation Plan is a “preservation approach,” Blomquist said, which is designed to maintain and enhance existing infrastructure, rather than fully removing and replacing the top layer of asphalt.
The city has recently completed two major resurfacing projects, including the resurfacing of Sunrise Boulevard from Greenback Lane to Madison Avenue, Macy Plaza Drive from Birdcage Street to Sunrise Boulevard, and Dewy Drive-Van Maren Lane from the city limits to Auburn Boulevard.
The next resurfacing project on Antelope Road will begin shortly and is expected to be completed by the end of October, Blomquist said.
