Public works outlines paving program, targets 10% yearly pavement preservation across county network

County public-works staff briefed the Commissioner's Court on April 7 about the county’s pavement-preservation strategy and network condition. Infrastructure Services said the county maintains roughly 687 centerline miles of accepted county roads; about 90 percent of those miles are asphalt-surfaced (with a majority chip-seal surface) and about 3 percent remain unpaved in the maintained network.

Staff described an approach that emphasizes preserving pavement life through timed treatments rather than waiting for full reconstruction. Treatments in the county’s “tool bag” include crack sealing, chip seals (single/double), fog seals, slurry/slurry mixes and asphalt overlays. The department said targeted, timely treatments can extend a pavement’s useful life; staff set a program goal to treat roughly 10 percent of the pavement network each year using preservation techniques.

Infrastructure Services described practical constraints: chip-seal surfaces in residential areas rarely achieve the same Pavement Condition Index (PCI) scores as HMA (hot-mix asphalt) streets, and heavy commercial traffic (truck turns and repeated loads) accelerates surface deterioration — occasionally prompting discussion of alternative materials (e.g., concrete on heavy-use arterials) and recycled base-course options. Staff noted the county performs many preservation operations with in-house equipment, a practice that reduces per-mile costs compared to outsourcing.

County commissioners asked for: a clearer long-range plan that ties paving choices to other infrastructure projects (for example water-line replacements), an estimate of the cost to bring unpaved maintained roads up to all-weather status, and options to reduce heavy-truck impacts on residential streets. Public-works staff said they will share paving lists for the coming season with commissioners and provide cost estimates on priority unpaved segments.