Auburn to scan every street and sidewalk this spring in multi-year pavement review
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Summary
Council heard a briefing on a contract with CityLogic to conduct laser-based pavement condition and sidewalk scanning this spring; results will feed the capital improvement program and may delay large reconstruction requests until the study is finished.
Auburn's engineering staff told the City Council on March 3 that the city has contracted with CityLogic (a street-scanning vendor) to produce a digital pavement condition index (PCI) for every road segment and a parallel sidewalk condition assessment.
Mr. Goyette, who presented the item, said the vehicle-mounted scanner uses LiDAR and imaging to grade pavement segments from intersection to intersection on a 0'100 scale and that sidewalk scanning will be performed by pedestrian-mounted scooters. He said the scans are accurate to within about 3 centimeters and that the vendor expects to complete collection by August or September, in time to inform next year's Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Goyette explained the city intentionally did not request major reconstruction funding in this year's CIP because it wants the PCI data to guide prioritization. He noted the city had previously spent a large one-time CIP allocation (about $3 million) on Merrill Road in the last budget cycle and that other projects in the engineering schedule will continue (stormwater, culvert and match-funded state projects).
Councilors asked operational and transparency questions. Councilor Platt asked how frequently the vendor recommends repeating the scan; Goyette said every five to 10 years depending on reconstruction budgets and weather cycles, and noted Auburn's previous scan was about 13 years ago. Councilor Weiser asked whether major reconstruction funding was omitted completely from this year's CIP; staff said there is approximately $100,000 for design work to avoid delaying project schedules. Councilor Weiding and others asked about public access: Goyette said the PCI numbers have not been posted historically but the council could choose whether to release PCI details after the assessment and prioritize the posting of the final prioritized list because PCI is only one factor in prioritization.
Goyette listed near-term projects continuing this season: Stetson Road culvert (in permitting with Army Corps of Engineers), overlays and bids recently opened (Perkins Ridge Road, Hersey Hill, Blanchard Road), Merrill Road currently out to bid, and several other reconstruction and overlay projects scheduled over the next five years. He said selected retaining walls and a municipal partnership initiative (MPI) project also are in scope.
Ending: The council received the briefing and asked staff to bring back priorities informed by the new PCI data; CityLogic data collection is expected to be complete by late summer and will be used to refine the CIP and public posting decisions.
