Highway 520 is within earshot of our house and this past weekend the Washington State DOT took advantage of the annual closure of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge to resurface a half mile of 520 with two types of quieter pavement. Wilder Construction installed stretches of rubberized asphalt, polymer-modified asphalt (containing cellulose fibers), and a control strip of the standard asphalt. We walked over on Saturday to watch the crew and machines in action. The two quieter asphalts will be monitored for noise and how they hold up in this environment. There are ongoing results posted from a similar project on I-5. The rubberized pavement performs best at the start but as the surfaces age and the weather changes it’s not a slam dunk winner. We’ve noticed a significant reduction in highway noise in our neighborhood. Driving over the quiet asphalt is nice too, though it’s jarring when you hit the old loud pavement once again. (photos and longer writeup on my Vox site)