Many of Montecito’s major streets—Hot Springs, San Ysidro, etc.—weren’t repainted for at least a month after getting fog sealed. Why does the county wait so long? It seems dangerous to leave them unmarked. —A.
“When we maintain roads, whether it’s through resurfacing or a complete repaving, we have to wait to stripe until the surface coating dissipates or the asphalt hardens and becomes less porous. If we don’t do this, the paint won’t bond with the road,” explained Lael Wageneck, public information officer at the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department. “The curing time could take as long as a month. The typical time between treatment and painting depends on the type of maintenance the road received, the painting material, and other conditions. For example, you don’t want to paint when the weather is cold and wet or extremely hot. For that reason, summer is our busiest period for road maintenance. With 1,650 lane miles in our maintenance system (the distance from Santa Barbara to Houston, Texas), it’s a lot of road to maintain.”
And Roads Manager Udy Loza added that the timing “is also influenced by the large contracts we have, which involve multiple roads throughout the county.”
Got a question you’d like investigated? Email [email protected] or text 917-209-6473.
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Great question. It’s time to hold the county and companies accountable. I’ve never seen road painting take so long. It’s unacceptable to leave streets unmarked for a month without any safety measures in place. That’s just how things work here, though. It’s like stop signs—they don’t install one where it’s needed until a tragedy, like a child getting killed, forces their hand.
Those paying attention will notice that the people in charge are less skilled, less organized, and lack basic knowledge of public safety. What would have been unacceptable 10 years ago is now the norm. That’s why we have construction roadblocks and detours every few blocks just to travel a couple of miles in town or Montecito. The disorganization in issuing permits is staggering.
It’s a system run by people who are inattentive, inefficient, unskilled or just dont care. Look at how long the 101 project has taken, and how many unsafe situations over the decade have occurred with all the lane changes and bad marking and just the amount of accidents especially at Sheffield.
Also just can’t believe whatever anybody says, cross reference information states….
The minimum time to wait before painting lines after fog sealing is typically 2–7 days, depending on the asphalt emulsion type, weather, and pavement conditions. Slow-setting emulsions (e.g., SS-1, CSS-1) used in fog seals need at least 2–3 days to break (separate water from asphalt) and begin curing, but full curing for optimal paint adhesion can take up to 7 days in ideal conditions (warm, dry weather above 70°F, low humidity). If the weather is cooler, wetter, or the pavement is more porous, curing may take longer, but a month is often a conservative estimate to ensure durability, not a strict minimum.
At least they did it in the summer. Maybe it was delayed so long because of the cooler weather.
The way the planning dept is run is why Trump won 🎯
The Planning & Development Department isn’t responsible for roads; the Department of Public Works is.