Goodyear staff: street funding must rise or pavement condition will decline

Sumeet Mohan, Goodyear’s public works director, and Brian Harvill, streets superintendent, told the Goodyear City Council on Sept. 8, 2025, that the city will use the FY2026 street budget to treat 55 lane miles but that long‑term pavement condition will decline unless funding increases.

The presentation said the city’s base pavement budget was raised this year from $3.7 million to $4.3 million, which allowed FY2026 treatments but still buys far fewer lane miles than before because of rising costs. “With that 4,300,000.0 approved budget, we will be completing pavement treatments on 55 lane miles of roadway,” Harvill said.

City staff framed the issue with the Pavement Condition Index, or PCI, the industry metric that aggregates pavement quality on a 1–100 scale. Goodyear has set a performance target of a PCI between 76 and 78; the city’s PCI rose from 69.8 in FY2016 to 75.4 in FY2025 but, staff warned, will decline to the high 60s in four to five years if funding does not increase. Mohan summarized that staff will “work with the finance department during the next budget cycle process to include an increase in funding in FY 2027” to address the expected decline.

Staff described the FY2026 mix of preservation and rehabilitation treatments: liquid road (a fiber‑reinforced sealcoat), microseal (a surface seal that restores friction), and full mill‑and‑overlay rehabilitation (removing and replacing about 2 inches of asphalt). Examples in the presentation included Festival Way (liquid road), Harrison Street (microseal), and Australia Parkway (mill and overlay). Locations scheduled for FY2026 work included Palm Valley Boulevard, Loma Linda Boulevard (mill and overlay from Central Avenue to La Jolla Boulevard), Estrella Parkway, and several residential neighborhoods.

Staff also said they will complete a full condition assessment of the city’s pavement network this fall that will include an updated inventory of ADA ramps. Harvill said the city rates arterials every three years and residential streets every six years and supplements those objective assessments with annual windshield inspections. “Routine inspections are necessary and beneficial…however, they can be subjective. Therefore, we perform these scheduled assessments to maintain objective data,” he said.

The presentation highlighted cost escalation: a microseal example that in 2020 cost $1,100,000 for 500 square yards would cost about $1,900,000 under current prices—a 68 percent increase. Staff said those price increases mean projects that earlier treated 132 lane miles now buy only about 47 lane miles; the updated funding level buys about 55 lane miles in FY2026. Staff noted that treatments typically last seven to ten years, so the program should be treating more than 100 lane miles per year to maintain the network on schedule.

Council members pressed staff on practical impacts and scheduling. Councilmember Troy asked about microseal work timing and traffic impacts; Harvill said crews typically work one lane at a time and that a one‑mile section can be completed in about a week, with the section scheduled to take roughly three weeks and coordinated with school spring break. Councilmember Campbell asked how often the city assesses road depth; staff reiterated the three‑ and six‑year objective assessments and said annual windshield inspections occur to capture problem spots between assessments. Several council members, including Laura, thanked staff and said they want to explore funding options to return to treating roughly 100 lane miles per year.

Staff pointed to one policy change already yielding benefits: the pavement‑cut ordinance adopted in December, which requires any cuts into city pavement to be restored to at least the original condition. Mohan said the ordinance reduces the patchwork of repairs that can undermine a street’s structural integrity.

Discussion only: the council and staff discussed treatment types, schedule coordination with school and spring training events, assessment frequency, and the effect of inflation on project scope. Direction: staff were directed to work with the finance department to seek increased pavement funding in the FY2027 budget cycle and to coordinate high‑impact work with school schedules. Formal action: none recorded at the work session.

Looking ahead, staff will present budget proposals and the full pavement condition assessment results to council during the next budget cycle to show options for restoring and maintaining the PCI target.