Capital Improvement Projects

Active Capital Improvement Project Map

The map of active projects includes all CIP and maintenance projects that have been approved and budgeted by the City Council, in current or previous year(s). These projects are in different phases, as identified on the map, such as Planning, Design, Construction or Complete.  This map is updated quarterly to reflect the projects status.

Street Cut Moratorium Policy

It is the responsibility of the City of San Clemente to provide for properly maintained streets within the public right-of-way. For this reason, the City of San Clemente has established a Asphalt and Pavement Cut Moratorium Policy. The purpose of this policy is to protect the City's public street infrastructure by establishing guidelines for cuts in streets that have been recently resurfaced.

All applicants, including but not limited to, property owners, utility companies, agencies, developers, contractors and engineers are responsible for providing appropriate repair of streets within the public right-of-way whenever they excavate or cut a trench in newly resurfaced streets for utilities or for any other construction work.

Except as noted in the official policy document (linked below), pavement cuts shall not be made in the City's public streets for the following situations (stated timeframes commence from the date of acceptance of the improvements), unless waived or modified by the Public Works Director/City Engineer or his/her designee:
-Newly constructed, reconstructed or overlaid within 5 years; or
-Slurry-sealed within 2 years.

For more information about the policy, please click on the official policy document here.

Street Cut Moratorium Online Map

To assist with identifying which San Clemente streets are (or will be) under moratorium, the City has created an online street cut moratorium map, which shows both current streets under moratorium as well as future planned construction projects that will soon be under moratorium upon completion. Clicking on each street segment on the online map will provide more detail, including the boundaries of the moratorium and the month & year the moratorium will expire.

Pavement Maintenance and Preservation Programs

Our Department takes pride in effectively maintaining the roadways in your community in the most cost-effective, soundly engineered, and environmentally friendly manner. There are many types of pavement treatment options that apply to roads.

A specific treatment depending on but not limited to the surface condition of the road, the condition of the underlying substructure, and the amount of traffic volume. Environmental, financial, and community considerations are also factors that are considered in selecting the right treatment.

Before presenting the treatment options understanding how a road is built and knowing what factors impact the road’s longevity are information that is helpful to getting an understanding of our Departments approach in treating our roads. The next two sections provide that information.

Road Components

A road can be broken down into three main layers or components: the top surface typically asphalt or concrete pavement; the second layer consisting of crushed rock called base; and then below that the native soil or the foundation. Each component plays an important role in the overall performance of the road. The surface layer provides the smooth riding surface that also provides the necessary skid resistance. Another important role of the top layer is to provide a protective layer preventing water from accessing the underlying base material and native soil. The base layer is the main structural element of the pavement and spreads the wheel loads so that the foundation is not overstressed. The native soil or foundation is the final layer where the load stress is transferred.

Factors that impact the performance of the road

As pavement ages it starts to deteriorate. How quickly it breaks down is influenced by many factors. The primary factors are the environment and traffic loadings. Sunlight over time oxidizes the surface layer and causes it to become brittle. If the pavement is too brittle cracks start to form as a result from high repetitions of traffic loading on the pavement. If the pavement is not sealed properly, rainwater or irrigation water can infiltrate the cracks into the base layer and damage the structural integrity of the pavement. Water can erode or wash away the underlying base layers and cause the pavement to fail from lack of support.

The treatment types shown on this page are a compilation of the treatments that our Department has used in maintaining our roads.

Pavement preservation:

Pavement preservation is the proactive maintenance of roads to prevent them from getting to a condition where major rehabilitation or reconstruction is necessary. Preventative maintenance costs are far less than the ultimate repair cost. The diagram below is a typical life-cycle curve for a pavement. The curve is fairly flat in the initial years of the life-cycle curve, then as it ages, the pavement condition declines to a poor condition after it has aged approximately 75% of its life (typically 20 years). As shown on the curve as the pavement condition worsens the treatment changes resulting in higher treatment costs - 

The City of San Clemente has been providing excellent preventative maintenance and preservation over the years to the City streets, and as a result, here are the latest results of the pavement management system survey of the City network:

• The weighted average PCI for the City of San Clemente Arterial / Collector network is 89.3
• The weighted average PCI for the City of San Clemente Local network is 87.0

As shown below the cost comparison between preventative maintenance and reconstruction is more than 10 times.

As shown on the figure below by proactively maintaining the roads, the pavement life is extended maximizing the value of each dollar spent on the roads. Another important benefit of utilizing the pavement preservation approach is that because the treatment costs to preserve the good roads is substantially less it enables our Department to preserve 4 to 10 times more streets than if we focused on fixing the bad roads first.

Common Pavement Preservation Treatment Types commonly used in San Clemente

Overlay/Asphalt Paving

Slurry Seal

Thank you for doing your part in helping us extend the life of San Clemente’s roadways!

What is an Overlay/Asphalt Paving?

An overlay/Asphalt Paving consists of cold milling, (sometimes installation of pavement fabric) and an asphalt overlay layer.

Cold Milling (also referred to as grinding) is the controlled removal of the surface of the existing pavement to a pre-determined depth with specially designed milling equipment.

Pavement fabric, a strong layer of stress absorbing fabric; is sometimes installed  depending on various factors; once milling is complete to minimize surface water infiltration and prevent existing cracks in underlying layers of the road from surfacing.  Pavement fabric can extend the life of asphalt overlays significantly.

Asphalt overlay, also known as Asphalt Concrete or A.C., is a mixture of asphalt oil, crushed rock, gravel, and sand.  Typically, a 2” thick layer is applied (sometimes over pavement fabric) to provide improved ride quality and extend pavement life.

The Construction Process

The first step in this process is to cold mill the existing asphalt pavement along the edge of the gutters to allow a smooth transition for the asphalt overlay.  During this process, on-street parking will be prohibited during work hours.

Next, a pavement fabric is placed over the street to improve the integrity of the overlay and immediately after, an asphalt overlay is placed on top of the fabric.  During this phase, on-street parking is prohibited and the street will be closed or restricted to vehicular traffic.  Once the asphalt is placed and compacted, the street is reopened to traffic the same day.

When the asphalt overlay is completed, all manholes and valve box covers are raised to grade; and then the streets are re-striped and re-painted.

Construction Protocol and General Project Information

The City looks forward to a successful project and to that end asks your cooperation by:

• Keeping children and pets away from the construction;
• Keeping persons or animals that may be sensitive to construction-related activities (i.e. noise-sensitive or vibration-sensitive) at a safe distance;
• Adhering to the No Parking notices;
• Not running water onto the street the night before or during the application;

Thank you for doing your part in helping us extend the life of San Clemente’s roadways!

What is Slurry Seal?

Slurry Seal is a mixture of emulsified asphalt (oil), water, fine crushed rock and sand.  It is a surface applied treatment designed to extend the life of existing streets in two ways.  It helps to maintain the integrity of the roadway by filling surface cracks and voids.  By replenishing roadway surface oils, it also acts as a water repellent cap, shedding water into the gutters and preventing water damage to the subsurface of the street.

Slurry Seal is only used for preventive maintenance and is designed to extend the life of a pavement.  It will not improve the ride quality of a street.

The Construction Process

Application of Slurry Seal is a two-step process.  First, surface cracks are filled and surface patching is done.  There is no parking on the affected street on the day this takes place.  Notices will be posted beforehand.  Several days after the crack sealing and surface patching, the Slurry Seal is applied.  Streets will be closed to both parking and driving during the application although limited driving will be allowed in case of emergency.  Normal driving and parking will be allowed after the Contractor removes the No Parking signs at the end of the working day.

Slurry Seal requires only a few hours to dry before traffic can drive over it but it takes 24 to 48 hours to cure completely. 

Construction Protocol and General Project Information

The City looks forward to a successful project and to that end asks your cooperation by:

• Keeping children and pets away from the construction;
• Keeping persons or animals that may be sensitive to construction-related activities (i.e. noise-sensitive or vibration-sensitive) at a safe distance;
• Adhering to the No Parking notices;
• Not running water onto the street the night before or during the application;
• Not driving on the Slurry Seal before it has properly cured to avoid damaging both the integrity of the surface and, in some cases, the vehicle's paint; and
• Avoid steering your vehicle while stopped, and starting or stopping quickly during the first few weeks after the application to avoid marring Slurry Sealed surfaces.

Thank you for doing your part in helping us extend the life of San Clemente’s roadways!