Item No.
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
BY: MATTHEW BAUMGARDNER, P.E., DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS/
CITY ENGINEER
DATE: OCTOBER 24, 2023
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CITYWIDE PAVING EFFORTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council will receive an update on the Citywide paving efforts. Since 2013, the City has completed resurfacing and reconstruction of approximately 64 percent of the 214 miles of streets that comprise its road network. The pace at which this work has been completed has varied over the years due to the available budget for paving. In 2021, the City was able to dramatically increase this pace following the establishment of a $30- million bond issuance that has resulted in nearly 66 miles of streets being paved over the last two years.
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council:
1. Receive and file this informational update; and
2. Discuss and provide any desired feedback on current and future paving efforts in the City.
BACKGROUND
The City’s 214-mile road network is comprised of approximately 154 miles of residential streets (72 percent), 17 miles of collector streets (8 percent), and 43 miles of arterial streets (20 percent). Each year, the City improves sections of City streets using a combination of three pavement treatments: 1. slurry seal, 2. overlay, and 3. reconstruction. The treatments are used over the life of a paved roadway to ideally create a functional surface for up to 30 years. Once a new pavement surface is created through reconstruction, its useful life is maintained through a combination of slurry seal and overlay treatments until the street requires reconstruction. Below is a description of each type of treatment:
Slurry Seal: With a slurry seal, cracks that begin to develop in the pavement are sealed. Then, a thin slurry of asphalt polymer and aggregate is applied to prevent pavement deterioration.
APPROVED BY
CITY MANAGER
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2 Overlay: An overlay is typically required when more substantial cracking has developed. In this case, up to two inches of the pavement is removed and replaced with a new asphalt surface.
Reconstruction: Reconstruction is required when the pavement can no longer effectively be treated and there is substantial de terioration of the pavement and underlying supporting base materials. Essentially, reconstruction means that a new pavement surface is being built and the 30-year life cycle is restarting.
Dating back to 2013, approximately 137 miles has been paved through a combination of slurry, overlay, and reconstruction treatments, which equates to approximately 64 percent of the road network. Since 2018, nearly 90 miles have been paved (see Attachment A), with 66 miles being paved in the last two years. This dramatic increase can be attributed to two major efforts adopted by the City Council around 2021: the Citywide residential pavement management analysis and the $30 million bond issuance.
In March 2021, the City Council adopted a pavement management analysis, which rated the entire road network using the standard Pavement Condition Index (PCI). Every segment was driven, inspected, and graded to determine its condition. From this analysis, a 10-year paving program was developed, which organized the City’s residential streets into ten separate geographic zones corresponding. The arterial streets requiring reconstruction have been designated as projects in the City’s Capital Improvement Program.
In July 2021, the City Council wanted to accelerate much needed street improvements, and adopted a program that would issue approximately $30 .5 million in bonds and make payments on these bonds over a 20 -year period using annual proceeds from the City’s allocation of Measure M and Measure R local return funds. Following the bond issuance, staff grouped 6 of the 10 residential zones into a first phase. At the time, these phases were established it was not known how many of the ten residential zones c ould be completed with the $30 million bond funds , as their analysis and design had yet to be started. The first phase was completed and accepted by City Council between January 2022 and September 2023, expending approximately $21 million on 66 miles of residential streets in the two-year period of design and construction. This equates to approximately $315,000 per mile. The remaining 4 areas are grouped into a second phase and are planned over the next 2 fiscal years.
ANALYSIS
The infusion of approximately $30.5 million in available funds from the bond issuance allowed staff to focus on addressing the 10 -year residential program on a much more aggressive level. In less than two years, the City completed the paving of the first six years of the 10-year residential program as part of the first phase. An additional two years
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3 are scheduled to be completed in 2024 , and the final two years will be followed up in 2025. This would complete the entire 10-year residential program in four years.
In addition to the residential program, the City has a number of CIP projects that focus on reconstructing different arterials over the next few years, including sections of Woodruff Avenue, Bellflower Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Lakewood Boulevard, and Downey Avenue.
Current Trends in Paving Costs
It is important to note that while the City has managed to rapidly increase the pace at which it is paving its road network, the cost of doing so has also seen dramatic increases.
From 2013 to 2022, the cost per mile for paving was approximately $457,000, when averaging across all types of pavement treatments (slurry, overlay, and reconstruction).
In 2023, that paving cost has increased to approximately $592,112 (an increase of 29.5 percent). The cost-per-mile increase between 2022 and 2023 is approximately 87.7 percent. This can be attributed to significant increases in material costs (asphalt and concrete), as well as labor.
Remaining Paving to be Completed
There are four areas remaining in the original 10-year residential program established in 2021 (see Attachment B). These four areas are currently in the design phase, and two of the four areas are currently budgeted to be constructed in Fiscal Year 2023 -2024.
Originally, these two areas (Areas 5 and 6) were budgeted to be completed using the remainder of the $30 million-dollar bond issuance. Given the trends in paving costs previously mentioned, it is anticipated that additional funding may be required to complete this work.
There are approximately $9 million dollars available in the bond funds, which staff originally anticipated would cover the 2 residential zones (Areas 5 and 6) to be constructed in Fiscal Year 2023-2024. Using the $592,112 cost per mile, there is a potential funding gap that staff will address through alternative funding sources, such as local return funds not currently being used on CIP projects. Once actual bids are received in Spring 2024, staff will present to Council options for closing any potential funding gap so that these areas can be completed in this fiscal year.
Several arterial projects are currently in the design phase over Fiscal Year 2023 -2024 and will be “shovel-ready”. With the exception of Woodruff Avenue, which has approximately $3.1 million in budgeted construction funds and will be constructed in Fiscal Year 2023-2024, the arterial paving projects on Bellflower Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Lakewood Boulevard, and Downey Avenue are currently funded through their design phases. Estimates for the cost to reconstruct each of these arterials are currently undetermined, but it is anticipated that each project could range between $2 million and $4 million to be repaved, depending on future pricing. Staff will explore grant funding and
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4 use of local return funds to complete these arterial projects over the next few years. The general limits of each arterial project are shown in Attachment C.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Quality of Life, Safety & Infrastructure
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Citywide Paving Efforts: 2018-2023
Attachment B: Remaining Residential Paving Projects
Attachment C: Future Arterial Paving Projects