As Surprise grows, so, too, do the miles of asphalt that lace the city and connect its residents to homes, stores and services.

In the last five years, the miles of city streets have tripled in Surprise, said Tony De La Cruz, a division manager for the city''s public works department.

That means Surprise needs to take care of its streets now, before potholes and cracks disturb streets down to a foundation level, he said.

"They''re not critical, but they''re at that stage that if we don''t do something, they will (fall apart)," De La Cruz said. "That''s why we''ve got to do something."

Since April 19, Surprise city workers have been resurfacing Surprise''s streets - filling cracks, smoothing edges and adding a new layer of asphalt to streets to prevent weather erosion and costly wear and tear to streets.

The work is scheduled to wrap up Monday, barring inclement weather, and is funded by $2 million set aside in the city budget for street upkeep, De La Cruz said.

City staff wanted to wrap up the work before the summer monsoon rolled in, he said.

This year saw an increase in budgeted funds devoted to pavement preservation, the same as has been proposed for fiscal 2008, De La Cruz said. The year before, the city allocated $1 million to do the job.

But with the rapid growth that has seized Surprise, there needed to be more streets and, naturally, more repairs made, he said.

"You don''t have to be a roads expert to know that," De La Cruz said with a laugh.

A consulting firm hired to analyze Surprise roadways, compare them to similar cities and see where problems might crop up, recently supported the city''s proactive actions in street maintenance.

While Bell Road is the city''s Number One priority among street concerns, consultant Steve Smith told the City Council May 3, preventative steps in street care, such as micro-surfacing, could translate to city savings estimated to be in the millions of dollars.