Department of Public Works Director Todd Wilson described the department’s multi‑year capital and maintenance priorities at a Marion County neighborhood meeting and answered resident questions about alleys, illegal dumping, traffic signals and two‑way street conversions.

Why this matters: DPW’s capital decisions determine which local roads and drainage projects get funded and when; the department’s asset‑management approach and recent state funding changes could accelerate repairs in some neighborhoods but also leave smaller streets and alleys with limited funding.

Key takeaways from DPW’s presentation
- Budget scale and major buckets: Wilson said DPW operates “a quarter of a billion dollar annual budget” for transportation programs and outlined major multi‑year programs including federal aid, local‑streets investments and economic‑development projects. Over the next five years DPW listed large program envelopes, including roughly $300 million in federal aid and about $600 million for local streets over five years.
- Short‑term allocations (2026): Council appropriations discussed for 2026 included approximately $16 million for strip‑patching (emergency repairs; DPW estimated this could affect up to about 200 lane miles), $3.6 million for in‑house paving (district 4 crew; about 15 lane miles) and another $16 million for residential resurfacing (an estimated 20–30 lane miles). Wilson said the city expects to complete tens of thousands of pothole repairs annually.
- Asset‑management and selection: DPW is implementing an infrastructure asset‑management plan that combines PCI (pavement condition index) data, Mayor’s Action Center requests, crash data and other inputs to prioritize projects and move from reactive to data‑driven selections.
- Snow response thresholds: Wilson described a three‑tier snow plan the department will deliver to the Public Works Committee in November: an initial call‑out for arterial routes and critical services (hospitals, etc.), a collector‑street threshold (4 inches) and residential plowing called at director discretion.
- Stormwater funding and work: DPW summarized the stormwater program as a user‑fee system based on parcel impervious area (started mid‑2010s), supported by flood‑control districts, bonds and grants. DPW funds culverts, levees, surface drainage and strategic land purchases.
- Alleys and limits: DPW staff said alleys are not eligible for gas‑tax funded capital programs; the department does not include alleys in the major resurfacing capital program, which means many alley requests will remain unfunded unless other funding sources are identified.

Residents’ concerns and DPW responses
Attendees raised multiple site‑specific issues: repeatedly failing contractor repairs at 20 Ninth and Capitol, carts blocking sidewalks on hills, illegal dumping in rights‑of‑way and signal timing that residents said is worsening construction congestion. DPW agreed to follow up by sending staff to neighborhood meetings and to route residents to the Mayor’s Action Center for case intake; engineers said restricted donations and developer commitments in the rezoning process are tools to secure targeted infrastructure contributions from developers.

Traffic projects and conversions
DPW described ongoing two‑way street conversion projects and traffic‑calming tests. Staff said the two‑way conversions aim to reduce speeds and restore neighborhood connectivity; project development includes parking studies, signal adjustments and community engagement. For temporary traffic calming, DPW uses “tactical urbanism” installations (planters, quick‑build devices) to test hypotheses before committing to capital construction.

Next steps
Wilson said the department will present the snow‑response plan to the Public Works Committee in November, continue the strip‑patching and resurfacing programs in 2026, advance the asset‑management plan and follow up with neighborhoods on specific alley, illegal‑dumping and contractor issues.

Ending: DPW committed to return for additional neighborhood briefings and to route service requests through the Mayor’s Action Center for tracking and prioritization.