AGENDA #7c
BUDGET WORKING PAPER
TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Bill Letteri, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Street Reconstruction
DATE: March 8, 2006
This paper discusses street reconstruction priorities and the budget request for Fiscal Year 2006-07.
BACKGROUND
Many of our streets are relatively old, having been constructed for less intense use than they presently have to bear. At the time of design, they were not anticipated to carry the weight of heavy buses, larger fire trucks, freight transport vehicles and/or the increase volume of traffic that are prevalent today. This additional loading has accelerated deterioration of certain streets and resulted in the need to make improvements to the sub-base and pavement thickness to support the current and projected traffic impact. If we simply resurfaced a street without correcting underlying causes of failure, then the life of the riding surface would be less than designed and there would be a need for on-going and costly maintenance until such time that the underlying problem is corrected.
Over recent fiscal years, annual street reconstruction funding has varied and has been insufficient to meet identified needs. We have identified current street reconstruction needs based on field testing and engineering analysis of pavement and subsurface conditions and traffic loading factors along three streets-Friday Center Drive, Ridge Road and Holly Lane.
As we notice major premature pavement failure we contract for engineering analysis and receive a report along with specific recommendations to correct the problems. This is an on-going process based on available funding and overall priorities. The costs associated with the three projects for which we have received the engineering recommendations for which town staff concurs, total $425,000.
While various options exist and different materials are used relative to reconstruction (e.g., removal and replacement of poor sub-base materials; cement or lime stabilization), the costs for asphalt and cement have significantly increased over recent years. Over the past five years, the cost of asphalt overlays has risen by 59 percent and stone has risen ~23 percent. If we used the average of these two increases (41 percent), the adjusted amount relative to the $65,600 budgeted five years ago would be $92,500.
Our base budget request for fiscal year 2006-07 is for $65,000 and we have a current balance of $42,500, for a combined total of $107,500. We presently have an unusually high priority need because of the high cost of two of our most deteriorated streets-Friday Center Drive ($200,000) and Ridge Road ($175,000). We have also completed analysis for Holly Lane ($50,000) as noted above, but are not ready to proceed with reconstruction because of the desirability of coordination of this project with scheduled replacement of a water line by OWASA.
DISCUSSION
While our base budget request next year for street reconstruction includes $65,000, we realize that additional funding will be required in order to proceed with known priority streets, including the three noted above in order of priority. Our first priority in terms of degree of deterioration and intensity of use is Friday Center Drive, at an estimated cost of $200,000. We presently have an available balance of $42,500 in the current year that, when combined with the requested $65,000 for next year, would result in need for an additional $92,500 for that project alone.
We presently are pursuing possible joint funding efforts with UNC, both in terms of reconstruction of Friday Center Drive and Ridge Road. We anticipate finalization of priorities once these discussions are completed and we know to what extent the University is willing to participate in funding. If they are unwilling to cover any of the costs, then we will have to determine what work could be undertaken with the funding level available. For example, without additional funds we would only be able to reconstruct a portion of Friday Center Drive. The condition of this street is such that we cannot afford any significant delays without undertaking some form of improvement.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that staff pursue discussions with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to determine possible joint funding for Friday Center Drive and Ridge Road. After we know to what extent they are willing to participate in the street improvements, we can make a sound decision relative to how to best utilize the funds.