CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
May 15, 2023
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Rene Guerrero, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AND FILE A PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (PMP) PRESENTATION UPDATE RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council receive and file a Pavement Management Program presentation update.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The last update to the City of Pomona’s (City) Pavement Management Program was in 2019. In order to be eligible to receive Prop C, various grants, and other funding sources, the City is required to maintain an updated Pavement Management Program. Consideration of this item provides necessary information on the City’s pavement condition, as well as, recommendations on how to enhance the City’s street maintenance efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact at this time.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On March 17, 2008, the City Council awarded a one-time contract to Harris & Associates for the installation of the MicroPaver Pavement Management Program (PMP) and to conduct the citywide PMP update.
On October 15, 2012, the Council awarded a one-time contract to Bucknam Infrastructure Group (Bucknam) to perform a citywide update of the MicroPaver PMP. On July 6, 2015, City Council declined to award a new contract to Bucknam to develop a PMP.
On June 6, 2016, City Council awarded a professional services contract to Bucknam to develop a Pavement Management Survey (PMS) to be utilized to update the City’s PMP at a price not-to-exceed $92,520. On July 1, 2019, City Council awarded a professional services contract to Bucknam to develop a Pavement Management Survey (PMS) to be utilized to update the City’s PMP at a price not-to-exceed $96,119. On July 18, 2022, City Council awarded a professional services contract to Bucknam to develop a Pavement Management Survey (PMS) to be utilized to update the City’s PMP at a price not-to-exceed $97,521.
DISCUSSION:
Please see the accompanying presentation (Attachment No. 1) for a discussion and visual representations of the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating system. The City’s 2022 overall PCI rating for arterial/collector and residential streets is 68, which is the same as in 2019, and the assessment completed in late 2016 showed a rating of 65. Both PCI’s are essentially in the “Fair” range of 60-74. In general, the cost of street repairs per mile increases as the pavement condition decreases. It is, therefore, more cost-effective to maintain and perform pavement preservation work on street networks with higher PCI ratings. Many municipalities, including the City of Pomona, try to maintain a PCI as close to 70 as possible. Not only does this provide a smoother and more reliable traveling surface, but it is also, generally less expensive to repair per mile of maintenance performed. Currently, the City is unable to fund a program to increase our rating to 70.
The City’s present goal is to maintain the existing rating of 68. To accomplish this, the City needs an annual investment of $15 million per year. This figure is only for the street pavement surface. Other improvement work along streets such as drainage, curb and gutter, sidewalk, landscaping, green streets, complete streets, and similar other real costs are not included. The City’s current funding sources include Measure R at approximately $2.5M – $3M annually. The City also receives approximately $3.4M yearly from Proposition C. The funding is distributed amongst the Public Works Operational Division related to Street Maintenance, and the remainder is distributed to capital improvement projects. The City receives approximately $2.8M per year in Measure M funding. Of these funds, $1.4M is contributed to City street projects in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP); the remaining amount is utilized for operational purposes. SB-1 funding provides approximately $3.3M for bothCIP projects for City streets and operational purposes, with the funds predominantly used for CIP projects. Funding sources in prior years, including American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Proposition 1B, Proposition 42, Active Transportation Program, and Street Maintenance Bonds, were either one-time sources or have since expired. Additionally, the recently completed and planned expenditures of excess RDA funds for street and Corridors Specific Plan (CSP) improvements are also one-time sources. One of the City’s primary objectives is to secure ongoing, stable, and long-term street maintenance funding. Staff is currently exploring all possible options to increase this funding, and some alternatives are discussed further below and in the accompanying presentation.
In addition to the ongoing annual investment, Staff recommends the following enhancements to our existing Pavement Management Program. Each of these will either be implemented administratively or, if requiring Council policy direction, will be presented to the City Council as appropriate for future action.
Program Enhancements:
Additional funding is the number one factor that will provide program enhancements and allow the City opportunities to help move toward maintaining and increasing the PCI rating of City streets. In this regard, the City is poised to realize some of the following increased street funding over the next several years:
An exclusive franchise agreement with Athens Services will provide new annual funding in the amount of $750,000. These funds will contribute to the maintenance of City streets.
The Clean California (Clean CA) grant of slightly more than $6M is currently helping the Holt Corridor.
A Federal earmark of approximately $3M will provide for street improvements and stair rehabilitation for local hillside area streets and walking steps.
East San Gabriel Multi Sub-Regional Measure M funding of roughly $1M, administered through the SGVCOG, will be used to prepare shelf-ready plans for First-Last Mile (FLM) street improvements primarily in the area of the new ‘L-line (formerly Gold Line) station in Pomona.
American Recovery Plan (ARP) Act of 2022 funds are also being used to help with street improvements on several different streets in the City.
Allocate, as possible, greater amounts of the annual funding to pavement preservation/maintenance (Slurry Seal, Cape Seal, and similar treatments instead of Grinding and Overlay). This is covered in detail in the accompanying presentation to City Council.
Utilize citywide pavement management conditions to prioritize the allocation of available annual funds to street projects, irrespective of district location.
Enhance contract management to ensure trench-cut repairs are timely and meet City standards. At recent City Council meetings, Council has inquired as to the state of trench repairs on City jobs. Staff is currently implementing a project to confirm trench repairs resulting from City water and sewer utility cuts are completed; further efforts in this regard are needed.
Coordinate Staff maintenance efforts with capital project improvements. In addition to the funds available for the Annual CIP street projects performed by contractors for the City, ongoing City street maintenance work is provided by City staff. This work includes pothole repair, removal and replacement of asphalt (that has eroded severely or failed), capping of low areas, limited alley maintenance, and designated areas of paving utilizing a Layton Paver machine. City crews patch approximately 1,000 potholes per month and can generally respond to requests within 1-4 days of the request. It should be noted that some streets are in such a condition that pothole repairs do not last, as the surrounding pavement needs to be more stable to provide long-lasting support. The City’s pothole repair program depends on three (3) sources of input: inspection and response to selected “pothole hotspots,” arterial and high-volume collector streets, and responses to calls. Pothole repair needs increase after heavy rains, and the City responds by temporarily shifting staff assignments. Efforts on this program enhancement are ongoing.
Staff will continue to look for ways to improve street rehabilitation for the City. Staff recommends Council consider the benefits that accrue to the City of Pomona for managing the City’s street network using the Pavement Management System tool discussed in this report and the accompanying presentation.
Prepared by:
Matt Pilarz, P.E.
Principal Civil Engineer
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment No. 1 – PMP Presentation
Receive and File Pavement Management Program (PMP) Presentation Update