FUNDS SET ASIDE FOR ROAD REPAIRS; PUBLIC WORKS TO RESURFACE WEATHER-BEATEN SIMI VALLEY STREETS.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

El Nino's big splash left Simi Valley relatively unscathed, but the fading weather phenomenon is inflicting another, subtler kind of damage on the city - road kill.

Seepage from more than 34 inches of rainfall has eroded the subsurface of some streets, causing the asphalt to crumble.

Although Department of Public Works chief Ronald Coons said every winter is hard on roads, more manpower and money will be needed to repair the damage after this year's storms.

Mayor Greg Stratton called the damage done by El Nino ``invisible and insidious.''

``Thirty-four inches of rain is not what our roads needed. We've got to do a lot of roadwork and figure out how to pay for it,'' he said. ``People don't realize there's a tremendous wear and tear. They don't understand why, next summer, chunks of asphalt start breaking out.''

The City Council on Monday approved $3 million to be spent over the next two years to continue upgrading Simi Valley's major arteries.

But before that work can commence, work crews must contend with potholes on major and minor streets that absorbed rain through cracks and other surface problems that existed before El Nino hit.

The seasonal demands will put a strain on resources, Coons said.

For example, although Public Works normally deploys 11 crew members to make post-winter road repairs, Coons said that number has swelled to 23, pulling workers from sign replacement and other concrete projects.

Also, damage was so extensive on a stretch of Royal Avenue that last month Public Works was forced to request about $150,000 in emergency money to pay for repairs.

``The high groundwater keeps subsurface from drying out. If the subsurface stays moist, that prolongs the problem,'' Coons said. ``We excavated there and 12 inches below the surface of the street there was standing water.

``We did not want to have a situation where the road would deteriorate to such an extent that it would be a potential for causing an accident.''

Another hard-hit area is near the intersection of Hamilton Street and Mead Avenue, he said.

Coons said the asphalt, a rigid material, crumbles when it becomes flexible after water destabilizes the subsurface area. The pavement then is unable to carry the wheel loads of family and commercial vehicles.

John Watring, assistant Public Works director, said department crews were able to seal a lot of street surface cracks with a waterproof emulsion before winter.

But some streets where cracks weren't sealed only deteriorated more as the rains fell and the surface blemishes multiplied.

``The water penetrates the pavement and gets into the base material of the street, and that causes potholes and pop-outs. At least we didn't have a freeze,'' he said, referring to the type of road buckling caused in northern climates when subsurface water freezes.

Simi Valley has about 300 miles of roadway to maintain. The major connector roads account for about 70 miles.

Starting June 6, Public Works crews will begin resurfacing stretches of Cochran, Stearns and Alamo streets, as well as portions of Erringer Road. Construction should be completed by Sept. 30.