[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6316582,"mediaKeyId","2376607-ff5c6551ae63c54f98f33e8acabfd7a1","parentId",2376607,"title","VTrans warns current funding could push very‑poor pavement from 6% to about 48%; committee debates tradeoffs","audioSeconds",2256,"startMs",754000,"endMs",3010000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2376607-ff5c6551ae63c54f98f33e8acabfd7a1&start=754&end=3010","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2376607-ff5c6551ae63c54f98f33e8acabfd7a1/thumbnail_754000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6316582/Vermont/VTrans-warns-current-funding-could-push-verypoor-pavement-from-6-to-about-48-committee-debates-tradeoffs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6316582-a0d0a9c8b11803c4089d0adfe8654b4d/orig.mp4?Expires=1775149718&Signature=F7KdoQXESF3Nsx5oXEpCxImQNrQb7XDqsSKYDx4rnjKNb0qqJP0H0qwkIaYwp2TlvJA3LFjksU6qY7yQDNb8T7szjBoWb9ypdZWA1F6ONq2Z~jXeEk6TgdKn~XOhe-zvQmdTwxipcN~ICEQrnS0BXadS0MJri0TnqFUWhevObl4or8O7qSazEI0F8BBd~YsK1lPu8~mJjIyndNqJEPmkijxGpMN4syTbXLlFe2Rxyg0WgP4VNvLKeC201MPDMGnX35SYB9kTZSCw9BNg5ng29-2genyp36PZzYBPxG0o1vB-Kuuv97hTV9T9Az42WDc98HlwQsUy9mIq-JaPbD2Faw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-21T15:28:23Z","article","The Senate Transportation Committee heard a detailed briefing from Jeremy Reed, chief engineer for the Agency of Transportation (VTrans), on projected pavement and bridge conditions under current funding assumptions.

Reed said VTrans uses a pavement composite index (PCI) that aggregates ride quality, rutting and cracking into a single score. VTrans classifies PCI as: good (80–100), fair (65–80), poor (40–65) and very poor (under 40). He said VTrans collects condition data across the network every two years (64,000 data points at 0.05‑mile increments) and more frequently on the National Highway System (NHS).

Under a funding scenario of roughly $103 million a year for pavement and bridges, Reed said the agency projects the share of roadway in “very poor” condition — about 6% today — could grow to roughly 48% over the projection period. Reed warned the travel‑weighted average PCI (VTrans’ target is 70) would fall below that target at current funding levels.

Committee members pressed on causes and consequences. Senators and committee members asked why a temporary surge in paving (the agency reported paving about 337 miles in 2023 and a paving program budget of about $158 million that year) had not produced lasting improvements. Reed said pavement treatments are reactive and have finite lifecycles: preservation treatments cost roughly $300,000 per mile, typical mill‑and‑fill treatments can run roughly twice that, and full reconstruction/reclamation that addresses subbase failures is on the order of $1.5 million per mile. He said those unit costs mean letting pavement degrade increases future costs substantially.

Reed provided network and program context: Vermont’s state highway network is roughly 3,200 miles, so paving 300 miles per year would imply an approximate 10‑year cycle on average; at 200 miles per year the average cycle lengthens toward 15 years. The agency uses deterioration models and an asset‑management tool that runs thousands of iterations to balance limited funding against network targets.

On bridges, Reed said Vermont has a little over 2,800 long‑span structures (20 feet or more): roughly 1,100 of those are on state highways (about 300 of those on the interstate) and nearly 1,700 are town‑highway bridges. VTrans inspects long and short structures and scores three components (deck, superstructure, substructure) on a 0–10 scale; a bridge’s lowest component score sets the overall rating. VTrans told the committee its state‑bridge target is no more than 10% in poor condition and that, under the current funding projection, interstate and state bridges generally meet federal targets in the out years.

The briefing drew policy questions from committee members about alternatives to continued high paving spend: greater investment in transit, expanded bike‑and‑pedestrian infrastructure and freight rail that could reduce vehicle miles or heavy truck use; and targeted decisions about which low‑traffic roads might not sustain an engineered pavement standard. Senator White and other members pressed VTrans for data on how many paving projects incorporate “complete streets” elements and asked for clearer accounting of bike‑and‑ped funding that is currently embedded in paving or low‑grade project budgets.

Reed said VTrans does consider bike‑and‑ped accommodations in many projects and that tens of millions of dollars of those accommodations are “buried” inside paving and low‑grade project budgets rather than shown as separate line items; he said VTrans could provide more granular data. He cautioned, however, that reductions in single‑occupancy vehicle travel alone would not, by itself, necessarily yield large pavement condition improvements because environmental factors (freeze‑thaw cycles) and heavy trucks have disproportionate structural impacts on pavement.

Committee members discussed revenue and tradeoffs. The committee chair said the options are: raise new revenue (to maintain or improve current service levels); accept a status quo that leads to deterioration; or make large strategic investments in alternatives (transit, rail, bike/ped) that could reduce pavement demand. Reed and the chair warned that choices will require clear public communication about expectations and tradeoffs.

Ending

Members asked VTrans to provide more detailed breakdowns — including how many projects meet complete‑streets standards and the agency’s buried bike‑and‑ped spending — and to continue work on multi‑modal and revenue scenarios. No formal vote or legislative action was recorded in the transcript excerpt provided.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Transportation 2025-02-21- 10:30AM","oneSentenceSummary","Agency of Transportation testimony to the Senate Transportation Committee mapped pavement and bridge projections under a $103 million funding scenario, showing a projected rise in very‑poor pavement and sparking committee discussion about preservation, alternate modes and revenue options.","taxTitle","Senate Transportation, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",51841,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6316587,"VTrans tells Senate Transportation bill’s dust‑suppression reporting would be heavy admin for little chloride",750,21000,771000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2376607-ff5c6551ae63c54f98f33e8acabfd7a1&start=21&end=771","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2376607-ff5c6551ae63c54f98f33e8acabfd7a1/thumbnail_21000.jpg","/articles/6316587/Vermont/VTrans-tells-Senate-Transportation-bills-dustsuppression-reporting-would-be-heavy-admin-for-little-chloride","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6316587-3ac6ce77b946efc177e24fa4ad9f4750/orig.mp4?Expires=1775149718&Signature=gqTpd0AvSbcQfTEAEDZospeaC70B5sjUZ7C0rqDajvw2oafJUpASAudRwIcUUyO~d-OLYn8u2BR9ZzbjcDkugHryvQQWIWZzo0K62PWKUiVTyQfhckl5XOKe43m2Y4syvuNVB28fd4NnNpWhbRpM-EQCDYH0PVsuW4OKQL9BUW-kbZAriE6oPleZac3gOxmzMSY0hneooWGfT3TA-tLCqTWvhh7EBPALt-iGd4rzusDw4Mg7GK0UVjCPznC~5AXSbaD9~udiMxKx6vTEZfLKyz6Kod440~jxptsgMk5ysHuFNEZrle-fds6rvbJxYdqmHW698H79U6eNjydrEx1neQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chair Reich Westman of the Senate Transportation Committee resumed testimony on S.29 and asked Jeremy Reed, chief engineer for the Agency of Transportation (VTrans), to discuss the bill’s provisions on chloride use.

Reed said VTrans supports the general intent of draft 3.2 of S.29 but opposes a reporting requirement on summer dust suppression that would require the agency to track small, dispersed uses of calcium chloride. “It’s just an administrative headache for so very little chloride,” Reed said, citing rough order‑of‑magnitude comparisons between winter road salt and summer dust suppression. He told the committee VTrans spreads about 30,000 tons of salt for winter ice control and somewhere in the neighborhood of 250–300 tons for dust suppression statewide, and that the way crews apply calcium chloride for dust control makes it less likely to enter surface waters than road salt applied on pavement.

Reed provided the committee with year‑by‑year calcium‑chloride amounts reported in VTrans’ purchasing records for dust suppression: 2019 — 3.84 tons; 2020 — 33.8 tons; 2021 — 470.5 tons; 2022 — 267.6 tons; 2023 — 285.6 tons; 2024 — 95.5 tons. He said those figures cover the larger projects in which VTrans pays for dust suppression as a contract line item, and that smaller uses — “50 to 100 pound bags” sprinkled at access points or staging entrances across many contracts — are not separately tracked.

Reed explained that for most contracts dust suppression is treated as a subsidiary item and is not billed or tracked per ton; requiring per‑contract tracking would mean changing contracting practices to add a pay item for every contract and the attendant administrative work. He also said calcium chloride used for dust suppression is typically applied to granular (not paved) surfaces and is absorbed into the gravel rather than immediately running into stormwater conveyances.

Committee members asked procedural and policy questions: Chair Westman urged coordination with the chair of the Natural Resources Committee (referred to in the hearing as Chair Watson) and asked VTrans to work with the bill’s drafter — identified in the hearing as Mike Grady — to produce proposed language the committee could consider. Westman also said if S.29’s crossover schedule causes delay, small changes could be made by floor amendment rather than holding the bill.

Reed noted that the Agency of Natural Resources had proposed removing the dust‑suppression language from their draft and that ANR and VTrans would continue to coordinate across committees. No formal motion or vote was recorded in the transcript portion provided.

The committee heard that VTrans maintains a written snow‑and‑ice control plan and that VTrans already tracks annual chloride use for winter operations through that plan: “we do track how much chlorides we put down, on an annual basis,” Reed said.

What this means: committee members will get proposed bill language from VTrans or the drafter to consider with colleagues across the hall (Natural Resources); VTrans urged limiting added reporting because most summer calcium‑chloride use is small, dispersed and not currently paid as a tracked contract item and because application methods make runoff into stormwater less direct than winter road salt on pavement.

Ending

Committee members and VTrans agreed to continue coordination with Natural Resources and the bill drafter to craft language that addresses agency reporting concerns without unduly increasing contract administration. Chair Westman said the committee could amend on the floor for small changes if needed rather than delay the bill’s progress.","Agency of Transportation Chief Engineer Jeremy Reed told the Senate Transportation Committee that a provision in S.29 to require reporting of summer calcium‑chloride dust suppression would create significant administrative work for “very little chloride,” and urged coordinaton with other committees to refine language.","actionData","errors"]

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VTrans warns current funding could push very‑poor pavement from 6% to about 48%; committee debates tradeoffs

VTrans tells Senate Transportation bill’s dust‑suppression reporting would be heavy admin for little chloride