Frustrated commuters are fed up with worsening pavement conditions on Southwest Morgan Street, and Sylvan Way Southwest, but the city says it will not be repaved for at least five more years.

Instead, a rescue mission of "spot repairs" is promised this fall once the road reopens, to be done by the Seattle Department of Transportation's pothole and street maintenance crews.

The June 18th, three-month road closure for underground utility installation at High Point development has drawn public attention to the general malaise of Morgan Street and Sylvan Way, between 35th Avenue SW, and Delridge Way Southwest.

As previously reported, Tri-State Construction will repave about a quarter mile, between 32nd Avenue Southwest, and Southwest Holly Street, during the road closure. Further south, a 600-foot stretch of Sylvan Way is being repaved over the new sewer main servicing the Sylvan Ridge Townhome development. Hope expressed by area drivers for major repaving beyond those two isolated stretches is, for now, just wishful thinking.

"Sylvan Way is not on our paving schedule for the next five years," said Gregg Hirakawa, community director for Seattle Department of Transportation. "West Seattle residents have a legitimate gripe, but there are other roads throughout Seattle in worse shape that need repair first.

"California Avenue got priority because it had significant damage, and high use," he said. "It gets 15,000 vehicles a day, while Sylvan gets less than half that.

"We try to balance the needs throughout the city. We have some bad roads in Georgetown, Rainier Beach, and Northgate that must be addressed immediately. We try to catch the roads before the concrete layer under the asphalt gets damaged. Sylvan isn't in that category."

Then there is the Alaskan Way Viaduct project. The transportation department has budgeted numerous repairs for alternate roads in downtown Seattle as it braces itself for traffic congestion.

Hirakawa explains the urgency.

"Something will happen with Alaskan Way in the next four or five years, and we don't want to be repairing a feeder ramp to I-5 while viaduct work is going on. All access roads need to be done before they start, and our paving equipment out of their way."

Steve Shay may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com