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County highway staff report PASER ratings show pavement backlog of about $28.6 million
Summary
Lee County highway staff presented a PASER pavement evaluation showing modest improvements in asphalt average ratings but declines in seal-coat roads and a multi‑million‑dollar backlog for repairs; the committee approved awarding a local paving bid.
Lee County highway staff told a committee the county’s spring PASER pavement evaluation shows mixed results across surface types and an estimated $28,600,000 of needed pavement work on county roads.
Brian, a highway department staff member who presented the PASER results, said the county’s average PASER rating for asphalt roads rose to 4.87 from the score recorded two years earlier, while the average for seal-coat roads dropped to about 3.0 from 3.27. “Our average PASER rating for asphalt was 4.87,” Brian said. “We found that 68% of our asphalt roads and 87% of our seal coat roads are rated either fair or lower.”
Brian also reported a 47% increase in the number of asphalt roads rated as poor compared with the previous inventory. He emphasized that those changes are part of a multi-year lifecycle and that the county has paved roughly 20 miles in the last two years, which moderated cost changes from 2023 estimates.
“Right now that estimate is about $28,600,000 worth of work on our entire highway system,” Brian said, adding that the figure covers county roads only and does not include bridges, townships or municipal streets.
Committee members discussed construction plans and the letting schedule. The committee approved a motion to award a pot‑mix paving bid for Hamilton Township (branded on the agenda as a Hamilton Township Bridal Road pot‑mix job) subject to the highway commissioner’s concurrence. The motion to award the bids was carried by voice vote.
Dave Anderson, who introduced the highway report, said spring maintenance and the county’s letting season are progressing into summer construction planning. He told the committee that one township initially sought to use Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds but later indicated it would use all local funds; Anderson recommended approving the award to preserve flexibility should the township later opt to use MFT.
The PASER process, Brian said, is an engineering‑based rating system the county uses about every two years to prioritize maintenance and pave work. He urged the committee to review the written report for detailed maps and road‑by‑road recommendations.
No formal budget action to allocate the estimated backlog was taken at the meeting; committee members noted that state funding increases in recent years had allowed the county to complete more paving work than before, but that a multi‑year program is required to address the backlog.
