Lake Wales Street Resurfacing Project Correcting Miles of Rough Surface - Is Your Street Included?

Motorists traveling on city streets around Lake Wales will find the going much smoother as work progresses on an aggressive program of improvements being conducted under city contracts.

Robert Connors

Paving work on area streets may cause brief delays, so motorists are asked to be prepared and consider the safety of workers.

Portions of 12 roadways are presently being resurfaced with either a cape seal or a double-micro slurry of liquid asphalt as part of the city's Pavement Management Program. Both processes are preservation treatments to extend the life of the roadways for several years, creating a smoother surface in the process.

Beginning in December, segments of 11 other streets that are considered to be in worse condition will undergo a more invasive process called milling and resurfacing. Those roads will be treated and reshaped before applying a new two-inch lift of asphalt.

The city's Pavement Management Program is an ongoing effort to make up for years in which little to no maintenance was provided to the city's many miles of residential and collector streets.

"We appreciate everyone's patience as we catch up on a backlog of roadways," said City Manager James Slaton, who initiated the program in 2021. More than three miles of roadways were resurfaced in 2022 and 2023.

The work is being done under a six-year plan that includes an inventory of roadways with condition ratings and prescribed treatment methods, such as cape seal, double-micro slurry or milling.

All or portions of 23 streets are included in this year's work. Those streets include Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bullard Avenue, Campbell Avenue, Carlton Avenue, Center Street, Circle Drive, Cypress Garden Lane, Druid Circle, Fifth Street, Fourth Street, Johnson Avenue East, Linden Lane, Marietta Street, Polk Avenue West, Polk Avenue East, Steedly Avenue, Sunset Drive, Townsend Avenue, Triangle Drive, Weaver Avenue, Westend Boulevard, 11th Street and 12th Street.

The targeted streets were identified and prioritized several years ago under a contract with Asphalt Paving Systems to help address a backlog of needs.

Yarnell Avenue, Frontage Road, Cohasset Avenue, Hillcrest Drive, and Marietta Street between SR 60 and Campbell Avenue were included in last year's rounds of paving.