Because You Asked: Here is the list of Sterling streets to be repaired, rebuilt in 2025

STERLING – As a local journalist, I frequently receive questions about the condition of Sterling’s streets and why certain ones remain unrepaired. After speaking with city representatives, I have gathered several insights to address those concerns.

Assessing the roads

Public Works Superintendent Brad Schrader said his team of 12 snowplow drivers regularly scan their routes throughout the year to compile a list of streets and their needed repairs. He then drives all of Sterling’s streets once per year to form his list, which he checks against his team’s list. Finally, Schrader said he takes the top 25 to 30 roads and travels them with City Manager Scott Schumard for one final review before selecting which ones will be repaired.

Road repair selection

Schrader said there is not enough time or money in the budget to fix every problem along the 102 miles of Sterling streets in a single year. The city’s roadwork budget is key in selecting which projects will be scheduled each year.

Schumard said that most of the funding comes from the city’s local option sales tax, supplemented by motor fuel tax funds, federal allotments and occasional grants. However, these grants often have specific conditions dictating how the funds are used, potentially altering the city’s original plans and project timelines.

Schrader said that other selection factors include the road’s traffic volume, current condition, how long the project will take to complete, seasonal timing, road type and even residents' complaints.

“If it’s a concrete road, it may eat up half of the budget,” Schrader said. “If I’ve got six roads I need to do, I might have to put off this one to get those six done. You try to do as many roads as you can, and you try to spread them out around the town so that everybody feels like they’re getting a little bit of it.”

The top 3

I posted on Facebook asking the community which Sterling roads they thought needed repair. Three streets were mentioned more than others: Second Street, Fourth Avenue and 16th Avenue near Lynn Boulevard.

Other streets mentioned in that post included:

• Potholes on the Avenue G bridge
• West LeFevre Road
• 14th Street
• Avenue I
• Fourth Street
• West Fifth Street
• West Ninth Street
• West 11th Street
• Third Avenue

For those who commented, the good news is that several of these streets already have been scheduled for repair work this year, including two streets from the top three.

Sterling 2025 street repair list

The following roads are scheduled to be rebuilt this year, which includes installing a new base, curbs, gutters, drainage, any necessary sidewalk repairs and laying binder and surface pavement.

Second Street had the most comments and complaints from the Facebook post. The city has scheduled 10 blocks to be rebuilt along Second Street from First Avenue to Third Street (Route 2). Schumard said Gensini Excavating of Princeton will be doing the work for $6,232,139.

Four other roads also are scheduled to be rebuilt this year for an estimated cost of $644,936:

• 1200 block of West Fifth Street
• 400 block of Fifth Avenue
• 300 block of 17th Avenue
• 500 block of 19th Avenue

The following 13 roads are scheduled for grind and overlay work, which involves grinding off the top layer of existing asphalt before replacing it with a fresh layer. Schrader said his team will first inspect and repair any bad spots or drainage issues along these roads' curbs.

• 16th Avenue from LeFevre Road to Lynn Boulevard (top 3)
• 1400 block of Avenue K
• 800 block of Avenue E
• 400 block of West 11th Street
• 200 block of West 11th Street
• 200 block of Fourth Avenue
• 1200 block of Third Avenue
• 1400 block of West 20th Street
• 1400 block of West 21st Street
• Strawberry Lane
• Clover Lane
• The alley of the 200 block between First and Second avenues
• The alley of the 400 to 500 block between First and Second avenues

Schrader said Martin & Co. Excavating of Oregon will be spearheading the work for $609,976, with a tentative deadline of Friday, June 20, barring any unexpected delays. He said the work to 16th Avenue originally was scheduled to happen last summer, but by the time bidding went up, engineers informed his department that most contractors' schedules likely already were full.

“Their recommendation was to push the completion date back to hopefully avoid higher costs due to time restrictions,” Schrader said. “When schedules for projects are short, it can cause higher prices from the contractors due to factors that are out of their hands, such as rain days or not being able to get supplies. Some entities will even have in the contracts that if deadlines aren’t met, they will impose fines or costs back on the contractor.”