Road repair season kicks off in Bend on Monday, buoyed by an influx of new money.

In the wake of a failed gas tax ballot measure in March 2016, the City Council has been scraping together funds to address an estimated $80 million in overdue street maintenance.

Now, with an additional $2.5 million in hand over last summer’s budget and the weather warming up, crews will be starting their first chip-seal treatments on Monday, with more extensive construction — including repaving downtown — starting next month.

For the fiscal year starting July 1, the city will have $5.9 million dedicated to street preservation, with the same amount budgeted for the following year.

The city estimates it needs to spend $4.3 million annually to keep the street system from deteriorating further, according to city spokeswoman Anne Aurand.

Aurand said the city is targeting streets where chip sealing and overlay work will be most cost effective. Streets that have deteriorated to a point where a complete reconstruction is more suitable — such as 14th Street from Galveston to Newport avenues and Newport from Ninth to 14th streets — will remain untouched until additional funds are available, she said.

The most complex of the city’s work over the summer will be downtown, where contractors are due to start grinding out and replacing the asphalt on Wall and Bond streets July 6.

Work on Wall and Bond is expected to continue through July 19, with all work happening overnight.

Paul Neiswonger, the city’s street supervisor, said the plan is for crews to work from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., proceeding in short segments so that both streets are fully open during daytime hours. The project extends from where Wall and Bond intersect at Vermont Street south to SW Industrial Way.

Bars, restaurants and other businesses that operate into the evening downtown will be able to remain open, Neiswonger said, though it may require a longer walk to get to them in some cases.

Neiswonger said the city will tow parked vehicles off Wall and Bond if needed. As was done during downtown snow plowing in the winter, vehicles will be towed to Troy Field, he said, and drivers will not be charged.

“They might be a little irritated they didn’t pay attention to the signs we put up, but at least they won’t be paying to get their cars out of impound,” he said.

Rod Porsche, director of the Downtown Bend Business Association, said the paving project is an inconvenience but a necessary one for downtown merchants. Doing the work block-by-block and at night should minimize the pain, he said.

“Summertime is the time for road repair and that has to happen downtown as well. It’s never easy, but hopefully the end result is better pavement, smoother crosswalks, and … you won’t be dealing with those big divots.”

A number of other paving projects on high-traffic streets will also be conducted at night.

Sections of Newport and Portland avenues will be ground up and repaved in mid-August, and the same will happen on Wilson Avenue between Ninth and 15th streets in late August. Work on Industrial Way, Division Street, and the Bond Street/Wilson Avenue roundabout will also be done at night.

Portions of two heavily traveled roads, Parrell Road and SE 27th Street, will get what the city is calling a stop-gap treatment, minor surface improvements to extend the roads’ useful lives.

Neiswonger said both streets, and 27th in particular, are likely to be due for more significant improvements in the near future as nearby properties are brought in to the city through the urban growth boundary expansion process. The stop-gap measures should keep both roads drivable while the city figures out what a longer-term fix should look like.

— Reporter: 541-383-0387, shammers@bendbulletin.com