The city of Georgetown has suspended street sealant work in Sun City after inconsistent drying times resulted in cars tracking sealant into driveways and longer-than-anticipated street closures, according to a city news release.

The city’s street department is working to find an alternative product for street maintenance projects in high-volume neighborhoods, and crews are continuing to clean driveways with excessive tracking, according to the release.

“We’ve gone back in these areas to touch them up if there are areas that we’ve missed,” Jim Briggs, Georgetown general manager of utilities, told City Council about the street sealant work in Sun City. “Obviously this material is not performing 100 percent to the specifications that were presented.”

City Council discussed the issue during a workshop session March 8.

At the time, council directed staff to find alternative products as well as suspend using single-course chip seal paving throughout the city.

The chip seal process involves adding a layer of emulsion to the roadway followed by a layer of asphalt or small-sized gravel.

Instead, Council Member Steve Fought said he favored the city using double-course chip seal, which produces less road noise.

The city had planed to use single-course chip seal as part of its 2016 street maintenance projects. However, based on City Council’s direction to staff, the city will reduce the number of lane miles that are resurfaced in the program by 14.4 miles. About 11 lane miles would be resurfaced with the double-course chip seal, Briggs said.

Fought suggested the city reduce the number of miles in 2016 and re-evaluate during the city’s budget process this summer to determine if additional funds should be directed to street maintenance next year.

“I’m not happy with where we are, but I’m happy with where we are going,” Fought said.

Council Member Tommy Gonzalez said reducing the number of lane miles resurfaced each year could cause the city to fall further behind its maintenance schedule.

"If we do that for the next five years we will be really far behind," he said.

The council is expected to continue discussions about street maintenance during its budget talks, Mayor Dale Ross said.

"We will know at the time if this will be a strategy that works," he said.

To see a map of the proposed 2016 street maintenance projects, click here.