Staff ReportPREPARED BY: MATT MORLEY
DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND PUBLIC WORKS
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Reviewed by: Assistant Town Manager Town Attorney Finance
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MEETING DATE: 11/01/16
ITEM NO: 4
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: OCTOBER 19, 2016
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive an update on the Town’s Street Pavement Management Program.
BACKGROUND:
The Town of Los Gatos is responsible for maintaining over 100 miles of street pavement. Each year, the
Town Council identifies a budget amount for an Annual Street Repair and Resurfacing Project as part of
the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). During the Council’s budget discussion in June 2016, the
Council requested that staff return to describe the Town’s Street Pavement Management program.
The purposes of this report are to:
Provide information to the Council regarding the overall Street Pavement Management program
Describe the StreetSaver software and database
Distribute and describe the findings in the latest Pavement Management Program Budget
Options Report (containing the results from the StreetSaver software)
Describe the accomplishments of the FY15/16 annual project
Identify the process for determining the Town’s FY 16/17 Annual Street Repair and Resurfacing
Project
DISCUSSION:
Street Pavement Management Program
The Town follows industry standards and best management practices in its street maintenance program.
There are three key elements of this program:
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
OCTOBER 19, 2016
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
1. Use the results of the StreetSaver software to obtain a macro or high-level view of street needs in the
Town.
2. Follow the industry standard of maintaining streets that are in good condition to keep them from
dropping into more expensive repair categories.
3. Use the preliminary StreetSaver recommendations along with all other factors to develop the most
reasonable and effective pavement maintenance projects for the Town
The StreetSaver program alone is not sufficient for making actual paving project recommendations, but
rather is one element among several important factors. Other factors essential to a paving program
include:
Review of actual street needs with the Town’s Maintenance Division;
Review of appropriate treatment type;
Determine the risk of a street falling into a more costly repair category;
Evaluate the level of traffic on a street;
Identify upcoming utility, development, or CIP projects on a street; and
Determine potential cost benefits by selecting streets in proximity to other streets on the list.
StreetSaver Overview
The Town began using the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) StreetSaver pavement
management software in 1987 for the Town’s street maintenance program. Although the Town was one
of the earlier users of the system, currently all of the 109 cities and counties in the San Francisco Bay
Area region, and over 300 other public and private organizations nationwide, use the MTC StreetSaver
pavement management software. StreetSaver helps cities and counties understand the overall condition
of their pavement infrastructure and their budgetary needs for maintaining their pavement. Using this
information and other available data, the system helps them make informed and timely decisions about
pavement maintenance based on available funding. In addition, the majority of federal and local grants
for pavement rehabilitation projects require applicants to be actively using a pavement management
program in order to be eligible for these grants.
The StreetSaver program tracks streets by their associated Pavement Condition Index (PCI), which
identifies the condition of the street. At a high level, streets are categorized by condition on a 100 point
scale:
Rating Condition
70 – 100 Good to Very Good
50 – 70 Fair
0 – 50 Poor to Very Poor
PAGE 3
MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
OCTOBER 19, 2016
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
Base street conditions are collected through manual visual assessments every four years for all streets
and every two years for arterial and collector streets and the data are utilized to update the StreetSaver
database. StreetSaver tracks the score and based on multiple criteria, including traffic levels and current
condition, decreases the condition rating of streets over time and identifies candidate streets for
maintenance treatments.
In the winter of 2015, the Town was awarded a Pavement Management Technical Assistance Program
(P-TAP) grant from the MTC for the re-inspection of all Town streets. A pavement management
consultant, QES, was assigned by MTC to complete the Town’s re-inspections and update the Town’s
database with the new condition ratings.
QES completed an update of the Town’s StreetSaver database for 107 centerline miles of Town streets
and developed a Pavement Management Program Budget Options Report for Town Engineering staff to
review. After staff review and comments, the report (Attachment 1) has been placed on the Town’s
website and is available for the public to view at http://www.losgatosca.gov/2244/Pavement-Condition-
Information. The pavement inspections were completed in August of 2015. Following the inspections,
the consultant updated the maintenance and rehabilitation history data as well as other program
components related to maintenance decisions and costs. Based on the 2015 street condition survey data
developed by QES, the Town’s average PCI was calculated to be 67 which falls in the “fair condition”
category (PCI between 50 - 70).
Budget Options Report
A core use of the StreetSaver program is for budget analysis to determine the impact of funding levels
on the overall roadway PCI. The QES report provides for a number of budgeting scenarios. Given
unlimited funds, the ultimate goal for a city’s pavement management program would be to have all
streets in the network improved to an optimal PCI and then allocate the necessary annual funding to
complete the maintenance treatments that would sustain the streets at or above that optimal PCI level.
The amount of funding needed to get a city’s pavement network into this ultimate condition is
determined through the “needs analysis.” The Optimal PCI assumes that the Town has completed all
deferred maintenance and the Town’s estimated Optimal PCI is 78. The Optimal PCI may vary by
community.
Because unlimited funds are unlikely, the StreetSaver program also allows the user to input budget
scenarios and review the impacts that those scenarios are anticipated to have on the Town’s PCIs and on
the resulting increase in deferred maintenance. Additionally, based on the budget scenarios, the
StreetSaver program is able to generate a potential list of street sections and treatments that would
theoretically optimize the use of the Town’s constrained pavement maintenance funds.
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
OCTOBER 19, 2016
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
The QES report contains six different budget scenarios, each run for a five-year period. These include
the following:
1. Unconstrained (needs analysis) – Provides a scenario of implementing an ideal investment
strategy with unlimited budget. This would address the bulk of maintenance needs in the five
year period and increase the PCI to 78 at a total cost of $28 million.
2. Current Investment Level (based on the proposed CIP for FY16/17 to FY20/21) – Uses the
anticipated annual budget for pavement maintenance work. QES prepared its analysis prior to
the adoption of the FY16/17 budget and Five Year CIP. Over a five year period, the PCI would
drop to 64 and deferred maintenance would increase from $8.3M to $19.2M.
3. Maintain Current PCI – Determines funding levels needed to maintain the Town’s PCI at 67.
Results show that a total of $10.4 million would be needed to maintain the PCI over the five
years ($2M/year). Under this scenario deferred maintenance grows to $15.3M in 2020.
4. Increase Current PCI by 5 Points over Five Years –To increase the current PCI by 5 points to 72,
a total of $17.8 million would be need to be invested in the Town’s streets over a five year period
of time. Under this scenario deferred maintenance grows to $9.2M.
5. Increase Current PCI to 70 - To increase the current PCI to 70, a total of $12.4 million would be
need to be invested in the Town’s streets over a five year period of time. In this scenario
deferred maintenance grows to $11.9M.
6. Do Nothing – If no maintenance or rehabilitation is applied over the next five years, the
condition of the Town’s street network will deteriorate to an overall PCI of 57. Under this
scenario deferred maintenance will grow to $23.1M.
It Costs Less to Maintain Streets in Good Condition
Following best management practices developed from years of pavement analysis, pavement
maintenance programs are based on the principle that it costs less to maintain roads that are in good
condition than those in bad condition. It is the “pay me now” or “pay me more later” concept which has
been supported by years of pavement maintenance studies and data. The analogy that is commonly used
and easily understood to convey the importance of road maintenance is that of auto maintenance,
changing the oil in one’s vehicle every 3,000 to 7,000 miles is a minimal investment that can save
money at a later date. Neglecting to do so can accelerate the vehicle deterioration and result in much
more expensive “treatments” at a later date.
Some cities may select the roads with the worst conditions for treatment first. This “fix the worst first”
strategy is not a cost effective approach to pavement maintenance. The StreetSaver software uses mixed
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
OCTOBER 19, 2016
DISCUSSION (cont’d):
forms of prioritization processes that include cost, functional class, and condition of the roadway
network. It also includes a model to predict future conditions based on pavement degradation curves,
surface types, traffic, and maintenance treatments.
FY 2015/16 Annual Street Maintenance Project
Last summer’s Annual Street Repair and Resurfacing project will be brought to Council for final
acceptance upon receipt of the final billing from the project contractor, Intermountain Slurry Seal. The
project maintenance included rubber cape seal/slurry seal, digouts and leveling course on 29 streets
within the Town (see Attachment 2 for definitions). On the streets that received maintenance, the
average PCI increased by 38 points. However, the overall PCI rating on all Town streets dropped to 66.
The Development of the Town’s FY 16/17 Annual Street Repair and Resurfacing Project
The currently adopted FY 2016/17 – 2020/21 CIP budget includes approximately $6.5 million for
annual street maintenance projects. This, together with the carryforward Pavement Management
Program funds of approximately $900,000, represents approximately $7.5 million that would be
available for street maintenance funding over the next five years. At this level of funding, staff
estimates that the PCI will drop from 66 to 64 or 63 at the end of five years.
Town Engineering staff is in the process of identifying specific street segments for the FY 16/17 Annual
Street Repair and Resurfacing project now and expects to bring the specific street segments for
Council’s approval in February 2017 to allow for timely bids for a summer construction time frame.
Where a project focused on rubber cape seal solutions was implemented in 2016, staff anticipates a
heavier focus on preventive maintenance through slurry seals next year. This aligns with the concept of
keeping streets in good condition at that level and not letting them fall to a condition that is more costly
to repair.
CONCLUSION:
As is common in infrastructure maintenance, the cost of deferring investment compounds the need over
time. Gas Tax distributions to the Town have accounted for funding in the past, however, those funds
have decreased from $876,000 in 2012 to $671,000 in 2016. A potential increase from Measure B in the
November election could provide an additional $500,000 a year committed to road maintenance in the
future. Over the five year CIP, this could get the Town to a place where the PCI can hold steady at its
current level of approximately 66. To achieve increases in the PCI will require high levels of funding.
The Council will be able to identify a target PCI and funding target in the priority setting session in
January. This direction will assist with the preparation of the proposed FY 2017/18 CIP.
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MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
SUBJECT: RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TOWN’S STREET PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM
OCTOBER 19, 2016
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachments:
1. Pavement Management Program Budget Options Report
2. Glossary of Street Maintenance Terms