Another round of cool pavement installed in Phoenix

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -For the third year in a row, crews are installing cool pavement along streets in Phoenix. This week is the first week this year crews are back out spraying the lighter color onto roads. The program is designed to help keep the temperature of the roads and air around it cooler by several degrees.

This project had issues back in December when the cool pavement in the Encanto area started to break apart after rain storms. Phoenix Street Transportation Department director Kini Knudson said they tried a different product in that area. Unfortunately, it didn’t adhere to the pavement, so they won’t be using it moving forward. “Our installations have been incredibly successful, all except for one where we used a different product,” he said.

Knudson says the cool pavement can also help maintain roads. He says the coating could “extend the life of our pavement,” and help crews maintain the roads across the city. This season, Knudson expects they will cover about 37 miles of roads. In total, that would mean more than 100 miles of residential roads in the city have cool pavement. Knudson says they could expand the pavement onto busier roads in the future.

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