LATHROP – It would cost $160 million to replace Lathrop’s 73 miles of roadway.
That’s what a consultant from Pavement Engineering Inc. told the Lathrop City Council during a special meeting Monday at Lathrop City Hall. The consultant helped review the pavement management system that the council approved last year.
Overall, Lathrop’s roads received a passing grade of 76 on the Pavement Condition Index – primarily because of the new housing tracts that have been built in the community over the course of the last decade. Staff is working to make sure that they continue to stay in solid condition for years to come.
Public Works Director Steve Salvatore said that the city has just over $500,000 budgeted for road projects this year. They wanted to work with the consultant to make sure that the roads that really needed the work were the ones that were addressed.
Some of the arterial roadways that get truck traffic and help circulate traffic to and from Interstate 5 are slated to minor touch-up work done – like crack-sealing followed by a slurry seal – while some residential streets that also get commercial traffic like Seventh Street are scheduled to more extensive work done because of the poor condition of the road.
And while the work is being done to help keep residents happy and help repair damage done to what is essentially city property, it’s also extremely cost effective for any city to do proper maintenance ahead of time than to wait for something major to happen and then do emergency work.
According to the report prepared and presented to the council, if the council were to only allot $450,000 from 2012 through 2020 for roadway maintenance – which would only cover pothole repair, some patchwork, crack sealing and some slurry seal work. The PCI would fall to 51 by the end of that time.
And it would cost $27 million to bring it back up to the accepted level of 70 – where Lathrop’s arterial streets currently rate on the scale.
The Pavement Management System is required for both federal and state funding. It will help staff keep better track of the roads throughout the community and be able to target which work can be completed before it hits the point where it would jump to a level of disrepair that would require much costlier work.
That’s what a consultant from Pavement Engineering Inc. told the Lathrop City Council during a special meeting Monday at Lathrop City Hall. The consultant helped review the pavement management system that the council approved last year.
Overall, Lathrop’s roads received a passing grade of 76 on the Pavement Condition Index – primarily because of the new housing tracts that have been built in the community over the course of the last decade. Staff is working to make sure that they continue to stay in solid condition for years to come.
Public Works Director Steve Salvatore said that the city has just over $500,000 budgeted for road projects this year. They wanted to work with the consultant to make sure that the roads that really needed the work were the ones that were addressed.
Some of the arterial roadways that get truck traffic and help circulate traffic to and from Interstate 5 are slated to minor touch-up work done – like crack-sealing followed by a slurry seal – while some residential streets that also get commercial traffic like Seventh Street are scheduled to more extensive work done because of the poor condition of the road.
And while the work is being done to help keep residents happy and help repair damage done to what is essentially city property, it’s also extremely cost effective for any city to do proper maintenance ahead of time than to wait for something major to happen and then do emergency work.
According to the report prepared and presented to the council, if the council were to only allot $450,000 from 2012 through 2020 for roadway maintenance – which would only cover pothole repair, some patchwork, crack sealing and some slurry seal work. The PCI would fall to 51 by the end of that time.
And it would cost $27 million to bring it back up to the accepted level of 70 – where Lathrop’s arterial streets currently rate on the scale.
The Pavement Management System is required for both federal and state funding. It will help staff keep better track of the roads throughout the community and be able to target which work can be completed before it hits the point where it would jump to a level of disrepair that would require much costlier work.
