Title
Options to Increase Pavement Maintenance on City Streets
Description
This report responds to City Council direction on Aug. 29, 2018 to provide potential funding options to expedite pavement maintenance on City streets, including evaluation of planned future light rail extensions. Staff requests Council direction on next steps.
Report
Summary
Background
The Street Transportation Department (Streets) maintains a comprehensive roadway network of more than 4,863 miles of public streets, including:
Major Streets: arterials and major collectors - typically the major north/south and east/west transportation corridors, spaced at each mile for arterials and on the ½-mile for major collectors
Minor Streets: minor collectors and residential/local - lower level transportation corridors and roads in residential areas providing connectivity between the collectors and arterials
The chart in Attachment A shows the breakdown of the 4,863 street miles by City Council District.
With current funding, the department has expanded options for the pavement maintenance program to include pavement preservation treatments such as: crack seal, fog seal and microsurfacing in addition to asphalt overlays. The use of several levels of preservation treatments provides multiple benefits to the pavement maintenance program, including:
Lower cost of treatment per mile, both initially and over the pavement lifecycle
Increased quantity of roadways that receive treatments annually
Higher number of roadway miles maintained in fair to very good condition
Increased number of roadway miles maintained appropriately, extending pavement lifecycle
Currently, approximately 300 miles annually are treated through the comprehensive pavement preservation program, which allows for arterial and major collector streets to be treated every 10 years, and minor collector and residential streets treated every 10-12 years.
Prior to passage of Proposition 104 (T2050) by Phoenix voters in 2015, funding for pavement maintenance was reduced to as low as $13 million annually for the City’s entire street network due to the economic downturn and reductions to statewide Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF). Funding levels at that time allowed for a pavement maintenance cycle of one asphalt overlay every 67 years for City streets. All of this led to a more rapid deterioration of pavement conditions and a higher number of roads in poor or failing condition. Due to limited funding, the pavement maintenance program was modified to consist of asphalt overlay-only treatments. The use of other interim pavement treatment options to extend the pavement life were eliminated, which significantly limited the effectiveness and reach of the overall program.
With T2050 in place to supplement state HURF, Streets spends approximately $45 million annually on its pavement maintenance program. This includes about $29 million per year from HURF funds for local/residential streets and about $16 million per year from T2050 on arterial/major collector streets. With those current funding levels for the comprehensive pavement maintenance program, arterial and major collector streets are treated every 10 years, and minor collector and local streets are treated every 10-12 years.
Current Pavement Conditions
To establish priorities of streets to receive pavement maintenance and type of pavement treatments, staff uses the Pavement Management System (PMS) to determine the condition of roadways. PMS is a tool used by cities throughout the country. PMS is built on field data obtained using a high-tech pavement management vehicle, which objectively measures and records the condition of roads, evaluating them on surface roughness, environmental stresses and structural condition. The evaluation and analysis produces a pavement condition index (PCI) measurement and rating system for the City’s streets. These ratings are tracked, mapped and managed in the department’s PCI database. Staff uses these objective measurements of roadway conditions to determine a list of streets to receive pavement maintenance treatments.
The PCI is measured on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being the best. A street in good condition is considered to have a minimum PCI of 70. Using the most recently collected PCI data, only approximately 30 percent of our roads are considered in good or excellent condition. The remainder are classified as fair, poor or very poor condition, which means that of the 4,863 miles of streets Citywide, 3,227 miles are in less than good condition. This includes 380 miles of major streets (arterials and major collectors) and 2,847 miles of minor streets (residential and minor collectors).
Streets staff benchmarked surrounding cities to determine how they evaluate and manage their streets and found that they also utilize average PCI goals. The current PCI ratings for the surrounding cities ranged from 70 to 76 for arterial streets, while residential and collector streets ranged between 60 and 80. Phoenix's current overall average PCI is around 66.
With consideration of feedback received concerning the condition of City streets, as well as a desire to potentially increase focus and resources dedicated to pavement maintenance, Streets staff is proposing to establish a goal of bringing all streets to a minimum (not average) PCI of 70.
Based on a Finance Department analysis of existing fund balances, Streets is using a one-time amount of $50 million from the current HURF fund balance to address immediate pavement maintenance needs.
Attachment B provides a PCI forecast based on several assumptions and factors for street miles in each Council District that are currently below and that will fall below 70 PCI within the next five years.
Funding Required to Achieve Goal of Minimum 70 PCI on City Streets
A goal to reach a minimum 70 PCI would require significant additional funding above what is currently allocated. Further, because of the extensive amount of work this involves throughout the City, including availability of contractors, necessary traffic restriction impacts, and other factors outlined later in this report, staff would recommend completing such an effort over a five-year period that includes the current fiscal year. The chart in Attachment C outlines the estimated additional pavement overlay costs of $1.65 billion to reach a minimum good (70 or above PCI) condition for 4,085 miles of streets over the next five fiscal years.
The City Council has also indicated the importance of addressing other right-of-way infrastructure improvements along City roadways such as curb, gutter, sidewalks, landscaping and streetlights in certain areas that lack these street amenities, but desire them. Costs for these improvements are not included in the above estimates as part of the pavement maintenance program.
Options to Increase Funding for Pavement Maintenance
At the request of City Council, Streets staff identified the options below as possible ways to increase funding for pavement maintenance:
1. Modify Distribution of Current HURF Funds and T2050 Streets Funds
Currently, about 30 percent of both State HURF and T2050 Streets Capital Improvement Program funds is allocated to the construction of new and expanded streets throughout the City. Shifting the allocation of these funds from 30 percent to 15 percent would free up approximately $23 million annually to the pavement maintenance program, but would require delaying currently planned and future Streets Capital Improvement Program projects. Over five years, this would total approximately $115 million to address pavement condition. Additionally, maintaining this allocation beyond the five-year period would provide some of the additional funds needed to ensure that streets can be maintained above 70 PCI on an ongoing basis. This option will postpone several planned capital improvement projects (CIP) a minimum of five years, and will greatly limit the number of new street improvement projects that can be started. Attachment D includes the list of planned CIP projects that would be impacted.
2. Accelerate Pavement Funding in Streets T2050 Through Financing
Finance Department analysis shows that about $150 - $200 million in funding could be advanced during the next five fiscal years through financing within the existing Streets allocation of T2050. Because this option utilizes the existing Streets allocation of T2050 funds, no transit-related projects would be impacted by this option. Although this would help address immediate pavement maintenance needs, it would reduce funds available in future years for street maintenance as the debt service is paid. It is estimated that this option would require debt service payments of $12 - $15 million annually from future Streets T2050 revenues over the next 20 years. This option does not provide any new revenues to Streets for pavement maintenance. The timing of debt issuance and repayment plan would require further analysis and development by the Finance Department.
3. Accelerate Pavement Funding in Streets HURF Through Financing
Finance Department analysis shows that about $150 - $200 million in funding could be advanced during the next five fiscal years through financing within the Streets allocation of HURF funds. Although this would help address immediate pavement maintenance needs, it would reduce funds available in future years for street maintenance as the debt service is paid. It is estimated that this option would require debt service payments of $12 - $15 million annually from future Streets HURF revenues over the next 20 years. This option does not provide any new revenues to Streets for pavement maintenance. The timing of debt issuance and repayment plan would require further analysis and development by the Finance Department.
4. Additional Financing for Current Rail Projects to Free Up Current Funds for Streets Pavement Maintenance
Based on analysis by the Finance and Public Transit departments of current projections, without affecting future rail projects, the City Council could direct financing to make available up to an additional $150 - $200 million of T2050 transit funds during the next five fiscal years. This would reduce future reserves and the ability to weather economic downturns as debt service is paid over the life of the T2050 program. This option would not impact the timing or implementation of any currently planned or future light rail projects; rather it would potentially require additional financing for the implementation of the three light rail projects currently slated for completion in 2023. This option would provide Streets with additional T2050 program monies, which Streets would not be required to repay to the T2050 Light Rail Program. The timing of debt issuance and repayment plan would require further analysis and development by the Finance Department.
5. Delay West Phoenix and Northeast Light Rail Extensions
Two future light rail extension projects were identified by the City Council during the discussions on this issue for possible delay to free up T2050 funds for additional street pavement maintenance:
West Phoenix - This project would extend the existing light rail system along Camelback Road from 19th Avenue west over Interstate 17 to 43rd Avenue, where it would terminate. The City of Glendale no longer plans to connect and extend light rail at that point. The current regional transportation plan has a planned opening year of 2026 for the West Phoenix extension.
Northeast - This project would extend the existing light rail system to the Paradise Valley Mall area, with a planned opening year of 2034. Two corridor route options have been identified for further study, but a preferred alignment has not been determined.
If these two projects were delayed so that the first-year expenditures would both occur in year 2050, the final year of the 35-year T2050 program, the T2050 light rail program would realize significant capital and operating resource savings.
For the West Phoenix extension project, if the City Council delays the project as described above, additional financing could enable funds to be used during the next five fiscal years. Approximately $200 million could be financed in such a way that resources could be available by FY 2023 or 2024. As with the previous debt-related items, a financing plan would need to be developed to ensure the timing of future pavement project funding needs coincides with the timing of the debt issuance and repayment plan.
For the Northeast Phoenix project, because the timing of the programmed expenditures is much further out due to its planned 2034 opening, funds would not be available to cover pavement maintenance costs during the next five fiscal years. However, these savings could be utilized to meet the additional annual on-going pavement maintenance resource needs to keep improved City streets in good or excellent conditions.
Although the options to delay light rail projects provide significant savings that could be used for additional pavement maintenance, the delayed light rail projects would not be completed or operational during the T2050 program. Since these projects were shown on the ballot map for the Proposition 104, it is important to give careful consideration to making such significant changes to this voter-approved plan.
Attachment E provides a summary of the funding options.
Additional Considerations
There are several further important considerations associated with a substantial increase to the number of lane miles treated annually. These include:
Traffic - Multiple streets being treated simultaneously could cause temporary but additional travel delays, restrictions, detours and traffic congestion.
Utilities - The City requires restoration of streets whenever pavement is cut to access utilities buried below roads. This includes water and wastewater, electrical, gas and telecommunication lines. In cases where a cut is made to a street for which the pavement overlay is less than two years old, the cutting agency must place a new overlay on and around the cut area. For pavement over two years old, the City requires a microseal treatment around the pavement cut area. Substantial increases to the amount of new pavement throughout the City will impact the cost of managing utilities buried in the right-of-way. In recent years, the City and the various utility agencies have significantly ramped up efforts to coordinate planned projects in the right-of-way to minimize impacts to streets and avoid unnecessary costs. With increased pavement maintenance projects, these coordination efforts will become even more important.
Contractor/Material Pricing and Availability - Significant increases in the amount of asphalt overlays performed annually on City streets could impact or influence pricing and availability of paving materials, as well as qualified contractors and skilled labor.
Staffing - Additional pavement maintenance program work would be performed by licensed contractors, but Streets would need to increase internal staffing to effectively administer and provide oversight on this contracted work.
Bike Lanes - Another key element of the T2050 plan is the addition of bike lanes to enhance bicycle safety and connectivity throughout the City. Where feasible and supported by the community, the City adds bike lanes as part of the pavement maintenance program. Additional pavement maintenance would require greater community outreach to determine if bike lanes are supported on impacted streets.
Construction Conflicts - In order to properly coordinate increased pavement maintenance projects with other planned right-of-way projects from utility companies, developers and other City departments, there could be unforeseen delays in pavement maintenance on some streets.
On-going Pavement Maintenance Program Requirements - Streets staff has analyzed the additional on-going pavement maintenance program resources needed to ensure improved streets are maintained in good or excellent condition going forward. Staff estimates that the pavement maintenance program would need to be increased to $107 million annually from the current $45 million.
Council Direction
Staff requests direction from City Council on which of the identified option(s), or any others, to pursue related to enhanced pavement maintenance funding and projects.
Based on City Council direction, staff will refine specific pavement maintenance options, and research additional consideration areas, including conducting outreach to stakeholders, identifying required staffing resources, and developing an ongoing maintenance plan. Staff will return to the City Council in October with additional information for Council action.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Street Transportation and Public Transit departments.