Title
Transportation 2050 Five-Year Pavement Maintenance Program Update
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee with an update on the Transportation 2050 (T2050) five-year arterial and major collector streets pavement maintenance program (PMP) and requests approval of the PMP for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024.
THIS ITEM IS FOR CONSENT ACTION.
Report
Summary
On Aug. 25, 2015, City of Phoenix voters approved the passage of Proposition 104 (T2050), which provides a 0.3 percent increase in the transaction privilege and use tax rate to fund citywide transportation projects, including the construction and maintenance of City streets. Collection of T2050 sales tax began on Jan. 1, 2016. On Oct. 3, 2018, the City Council directed staff to explore options to expend $200M over the five years to accelerate pavement maintenance on arterial and major collector streets. Staff developed an Accelerated Pavement Maintenance Program (APMP) which includes the acceleration of planned mill and overlay projects from FY2020-23 to FY2019 and FY2020. Attachment A - Paving Progress between FY2019-23 summarizes the APMP progress.
Phoenix’s Street Network
Phoenix has a comprehensive roadway network of more than 4,871 miles of public streets. Phoenix’s roadway network is made up of arterial, collector, and local streets. Arterials are major streets, which are typically the major north/south and east/west transportation corridors spaced at each mile. Collectors are important mid-level transportation corridors, which are generally on the ½-mile north/south and east/west streets between the arterial streets. Local streets are typically in residential areas and provide connectivity between the collectors and arterials for local traffic.
The arterial and major collector streets pavement maintenance program (PMP) is primarily funded by T2050, while the minor collector and local streets PMP is funded primarily by Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF).
The City’s public transit system primarily utilizes the arterial and major collector streets for its bus and rail lines, and T2050 funds allocated to Street Transportation are an essential part of proper pavement maintenance along these transit corridors.
Attachment B - Street Classification Distribution outlines the citywide distribution of the various street classifications and which street classifications are eligible for resurfacing projects using T2050 and HURF funding. Attachment C - Street Classification Centerline Miles by Council District illustrates the distribution of street classification types across the City’s eight council districts.
Pavement Management System and Pavement Condition Index
Streets is tasked with planning, programming and executing the City’s pavement maintenance program. The department developed and implemented the Pavement Management System (PMS) to determine the condition of roadways in order to establish priorities of streets to receive maintenance treatments and pavement overlays. The foundation of PMS is field data obtained using a high-tech pavement management vehicle, which measures and records the condition of roads, evaluating them on surface roughness, environmental stresses, and structural condition. Based on the resulting pavement condition index (PCI) rating, which is tracked and mapped in the department’s PCI database, staff uses these objective measurements of roadway conditions to develop an initial list of roads to receive asphalt overlay.
Using the most recently recorded PCI data, about 31 percent of City streets are classified in good or excellent condition, while 63 percent are in fair condition and 6 percent are in poor or very poor condition. PCI information is outlined in Attachment D - Pavement Condition Index Distribution.
Pavement Maintenance Goals and Budgets
With the pavement maintenance funding (T2050 and HURF) of the City’s street network allocated based on the street classification type, the miles of roadway treated on an annual basis should be reported and evaluated in the same manner. Attachment E - Five-Year Pavement Program Scheduled Roadway Miles shows the number of roadway miles scheduled to be treated through FY 2024 as part of the five-year pavement maintenance program. As noted, HURF funding is primarily allocated to minor collector and local streets and T2050 funding is primarily allocated to arterial and major collector streets, which total 4,032 miles and 839 miles, as shown in Attachment F - T2050 and HURF Budgets and Miles FY2020-24.
Bicycle Facility Implementation
The departments Active Transportation Program is a multi-faceted yet coordinated effort to ensure the City establishes a well-connected citywide bicycle network and implements the goals of the T2050 program. Implementation of bicycle network infrastructure will come from various distinct, yet collaborative work efforts of different divisions and sections in Streets, including the PMP. Attachment G - Bicycle Facilities Implemented in PMP for FY2020-24 shows a summary of the bicycle facilities currently planned to be implemented through the five-year pavement maintenance program.
Pavement Maintenance Acceleration Program Impacts
Based on action taken by the City Council to accelerate pavement maintenance projects, the current PMP through FY2023 has been accelerated using existing funding and issuing bonds in the amount of approximately $200M. Previously programmed FY2020 arterial overlay projects were brought forward to fill the FY 2019 APMP Program. Additionally, FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023 arterial overlay projects were moved forward to FY2020. New arterial street overlay locations were identified to be done in FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023. This enables 25% of the arterial network to receive a mill and overlay treatment over the 5-year accelerated maintenance period (FY2019 through FY2023). These newly overlaid streets will require increased funding in the preservative treatment program to protect the investment in the overlay and keep the streets in good condition for a longer period.
Future Funding
After completion of the APMP in FY2023, funding for the pavement maintenance and preservation programs will revert to previous levels prior to APMP beginning in FY2024. This level of funding is not sufficient to maintain the pavement condition improvements that have been made over the past few years. Eventually, the improvements made with the APMP will reverse and additional funding will be needed to preserve the investment of the APMP in the pavement network and to ultimately maintain an average pavement condition index of 70 across all City streets.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
This item was recommended for approval at the Citizen Transportation Commission meeting on Dec. 2, 2020, by a vote of 10-0.
Public Outreach
Since 2019, staff has presented at 80 community meetings, reaching over 11,700 people. Public outreach is ongoing for project notification to residents, stakeholders and community groups.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Street Transportation Department.