Schedule of paving projects for 2010
What is the purpose of the 2.3m dollar road bond? The referendum question for a 2.3 Million dollar bond will repair, rehabilitate, and reconstruct roads based on need. The bond referendum was passed on November 3, 2009.
Why did the City decide to bond the road maintenance rather than pay for it in the operation budget? Over the last few years, because of budgetary constraints and rapidly rising asphalt prices, the gap between the sustainable level of funding and the actual level of funding has been growing each year since 2003. At current prices, the funding gap over that time period is estimated to be about 2.8 Million dollars. The city is proposing to fund a portion of that gap based on the retirement of existing debt to minimize the effect on the tax rate. Based on the retired debt payments, the City has proposed a 2.3 Million dollar bond for consideration. What is the sustainable level of service for the City's pavement preservation? This graph depicts our history of applied paving tonnages since 2002. The flat line on the graph represents an anticipated annual pavement need based on a 12-year overlay expectancy. This is based on a typical industry standard and our historical experience on overlays in this region. As the graph depicts, we have had a steady decline in the tons of pavement applied over the last six budget years. This is due to two reasons: declining annual pavement overlay budgets and increasing pavement prices.
In developing a sustainable level of annual paving, we have been looking at our paving life expectancies for a mix of treatment options based on road conditions. Treatment options would typically include overlays, shim and overlay, and reclaim/reconstruction. The treatment would be dependent on the condition of the road at the time of the treatment and available funding levels.
What are our costs for maintaining the roads at the sustainable level? The second graph shows the paving funding history over the same time frame. Adding to our shortfall is the cost of paving that has increased approximately 110% over that time, so not only are we spending less each year, but our material costs have doubled. Our current paving price is at $66.00 per ton. At these prices, to purchase and apply our estimated 14,000 tons per year of pavement will cost the about $920,000
Why do we need to do the maintenance now? Each year, staff at Public Works conducts a condition assessment of each road in Saco. Because the funding has been decreasing over the last few years the overall state of road system has been deteriorating. The critical issue for the City is that when maintenance on a road is deferred too long a standard 1.5 inch overlay is not adequate because the condition has deteriorated to a point where the base of the road needs to be rehabilitated. When the base of the road is compromised, the costs increase 3 to 5 times the cost of the overlay. The graph to the right shows the average annual condition assessments. The staff at the Department of Public Works would strongly recommend the less expensive overlays versus a more expensive reconstruction.
Now that the road bond has been approved, when will my street be paved? A list of the streets to be paved may be found on this page. It is anticipated that the road list will take a couple of years to complete beginning in May of 2010. An assessment of the ancillary work like ditching, storm and sewer collection work, utility work, and base reconstruction will be done over the winter and a list will be developed based on the capacity of our paving contractor and the City crews to complete the preparatory work. The city will be posting a list of the anticipated construction schedules for 2010 and 2011 in the spring on this site.
