Overlay (Street Paving)

A construction roller flattens a street.

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Overlay Program
The City of Kirkland repaves up to 10 lane-miles of its more traveled streets every year. The Capital Improvement Program pays for about half of those lane-miles. The other half is funded by the Streets Levy, which voters approved in 2012.
Repaving a street can extend its useful life by 10 to 20 years.

The process begins with a task known as "lowering iron," during which workers remove utility lids to prevent the damage they would otherwise sustain during the grinding stage.

The grinding stage is when contracted crews use milling machines to remove the top three to five inches of a street's asphalt. Once crews have removed the street's damaged layer of asphalt, they are ready--assuming good weather--to lay down its new asphalt surface.

Kirkland's goal for its street preservation program is to improve the score of its arterial network to 70 on the Pavement Condition Index. The street network's Pavement Condition Index score at the end of 2015 was 65.4. In 2018, it was 70. Some of that improvement, however, can be attributed to a change in how the City measures its street conditions.

Map showing streets on the 2026 overlay project including the streets around Evergreen Hospital

Discussions

Timeline

Street selection and design

November - April

Upgrade sidewalk curb ramps

Sept - August

Neighborhood street preservation

August - September

Repaving streets

June - October

Weekly updates

September 24 -- NE 137th Street/NE 136th Street/ NE 135th Street/ NE 134th Street from 100th Avenue NE to 90th Avenue NE has been paved. The street will have iron raised at all maintenance holes and other tasks completed prior to permanent pavement markings. The program now shifts to two dead-end streets, one on Finn Hill and one in Houghton.

September 16 -- Paving is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 17 and Friday, Sept 18.

September 10 -- Paving is now expected mid-week next week (week of Sept 14).

September 3 -- Paving has shifted due to wet weather, now expected next week (Sept. 8-11). Paving remains weather dependent and even forecasted rain could shift planned paving.

August 28 -- Paving of NE 134th/135th/136th/137th streets is expected next week, weather dependent. Following that paving, work will shift to the Houghton neighborhood for 114th Avenue Northeast.

August 20 -- Grinding is scheduled to begin Monday, August 24. Street repairs will follow the grinding at specific locations, then fresh/hot asphalt will smooth out the street!

August 13 -- Grinding is expected next week and will take a few days. Overlay will follow.

August 6, 2026 -- Northwest Asphalt has begun work on the arterial between 90th Avenue Northeast and 100th Avenue Northeast (Northeast 134th/136th/137th streets). Work consists of "lowering iron", grinding top layer of asphalt, repairing sections of base layer, repaving roadway, raising iron, and permanent striping. This project will convert parking into a marked pathway for a continuous pedestrian walkway between 90th Avenue NE and 100th Avenue NE.

July 13, 2026 -- Kirkland City Council awarded the construction contract at it's July 7 meeting to Northwest Asphalt, Inc. of Renton. Work is expected to begin late-July/August and be complete in October.

Streets awarded for 2026 Overlay are:

80th Place Northeast (Northeast 120th Street south to street end)
114th Avenue Northeast (Northeast 65th Street south to street end)
Northeast 134th/136th/137th Street (90th Avenue Northeast to 100th Avenue Northeast)

Updates to this page are posted every Thursday during construction.

2012 Streets Levy

2019 Streets Levy. Kirkland's voters approved a streets levy in 2012 to provide the City with the resources necessary to maintain a functional street network. Every year since, the City of Kirkland has released an accountability report on stewardship of those funds and progress toward those goals. Read the 2019 Levy report.(PDF, 2MB)