FOR THE COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 21, 2024
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: City Council
FROM: Interim City Manager Alex Posada
BY: Director of Public Works Brett Fulgoni
SUBJECT: Pavement Management Update 2024
Description:
The City Council will receive a presentation on City roadway condition and maintenance programs.
Environmental Notice: The activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act State Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to State Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3) no environmental review is required.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council will receive a presentation from Public Works Engineering staff on pavement management and the City’s Pavement Condition Index (PCI), roadway treatment strategy, budget, and financial needs. Staff will also review various standards, policies, and procedures used to extend the useful life of the City infrastructure and make the most effective use of available funding.
There are 23 0 centerline miles (53 3 lane miles) (1.9 square miles) of asphalt concrete roadways in the City limits valued at over $1 billion in replacement cost. The current overall PCI for the City is 69, which is “At-Risk” on a scale of 0-100. Annual expenditures on pavement preservation do not meet the level needed to maintain pavement condition.
Staff estimates the current overall PCI rating will drop by approximately one point per year. This drop in the City’s PCI rating will accelerate as costs compound exponentially each year.
DISCUSSION:
The City receives funding from various sources for pavement preservation. Senate Bill 1 (SB-1) Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) Gas Tax, along with Gas Tax Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA), Measure A, Local Surface Transportation Program (LSTP), and General Fund combined provide the City approximately $7 million a year to use on pavement projects. Even with these significant funding sources, the needs analysis generated by the City’s pavement management system shows, that with updated cost models, there is a funding shortfall of $ 4 million annually to keep the PCI constant without further decline.
2 To increase the PCI by one point per year, the City will require an additional $13 million annually. Therefore, over the next five years to achieve a PCI of 75 , the City will require $10 million annually.
Staff recommends the continued use of a multi -prong approach to address the issue.
Innovation, standard updates, and development conditions will all be used to help mitigate the funding shortfall.
Innovation
The City has been exploring innovative ways to maximize funding dollars for pavement maintenance to utilize funding in the most cost -effective manner. In Fiscal Year 24/25, Engineering, in coordination with Streets Staff, will utilize an on -call contractor to focus on the maintenance of primary and secondary arterials. These types of roadways carry the highest volumes of traffic in the City. In general, the roadways exhibit a sa tisfactory level of overall health. Therefore, proposed maintenance will be location specific. This strategy will raise the overall integrity of the roadway, extend its useful life, and raise the arterial PCI.
With a contractor focusing on the more heavily travelled roadways, City’s Street Staff will address distressed collectors and local residential roadways segments. This strategy will increase staff productivity, increase pavement maintenance areas, and raise the residential PCI.
Our pavement management approach has “hyper focused” our efforts to only pave areas that are critical. In the example of Suey Road, which is 60’ wide, Public Works paved 24’ of the roadway. The difference in cost between paving the entire 60’ width, versus 24’ is $2,200,000 vs $800,000 respectively. This was also the strategy used on Depot Street.
The City is looking at other roadways such as North College. Roadways with relatively low traffic volumes are candidates for “diets” reducing a roadway from four lanes to two lanes. T his strategy reduces speeds, improves pedestrian, car, and bike safety, and substantially reduces our cost to maintain.
Fiscal Considerations
No fiscal considerations. The pavement management update provides the City Council a status of City’s roadway PCI and overview of Staff’s plan for roadway maintenance for fiscal year 24/25. The City Council may receive the update and provide guidance for future consideration.
Impact to the Community
The pavement management update proposes to provide insight to th e residents of the City of Santa Maria regarding Staff’s approach to pavement maintenance; strategies utilized to expend public funds in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible.