During a recent government meeting, officials discussed the current state of street maintenance and funding, highlighting the importance of managing backlog and maintaining the Overall Condition Index (OCI) for local roads. The meeting revealed that the city has assigned a unit price of $40 per square yard for road treatments, with a critical OCI score of 63 being a focal point for determining which projects to prioritize.

Backlog, defined as deferred maintenance, was emphasized as a key indicator of the network's health. Officials noted that an increasing backlog suggests that road conditions are deteriorating faster than available funding can address, while a decreasing backlog indicates improved budget allocation and road conditions. The meeting included a presentation of various scenarios regarding future funding and maintenance strategies, with a current budget of approximately $33 million for the fiscal year 2024, of which $25 million is allocated for street maintenance.

The officials presented several modeling scenarios to project the impact of different funding levels on the OCI score over the next five years. The \"fix all\" scenario, which would address all maintenance needs, was estimated to cost $178 million, potentially raising the OCI score from 71 to 89. Conversely, maintaining the current budget would keep the OCI score stable at 71, but if no action is taken, the score could drop to 57, resulting in a backlog of $500 million by 2029.

The meeting concluded with a commitment to explore additional scenarios, including equitable funding distribution across council districts and targeted improvements for specific types of streets. The ongoing study is expected to be completed by the end of summer, with results to be presented to the council for future funding decisions.