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Pavement study: $50M bond would raise network PCI; $20M preserves current condition, $2.1M annual budget is insufficient
Summary
A city‑commissioned pavement assessment found Galveston’s paved network averaging a PCI of about 74 and projected that the current annual pavement budget of about $2.1 million would reduce average pavement health to an estimated PCI of 69 in seven years unless the city increases funding or passes bonds.
A consultant team from Roadway Asset Services released updated pavement condition data and modeled funding scenarios for Galveston’s paved roadway network, saying current maintenance levels are not sufficient to keep average pavement health steady.
Zach Thomason, senior vice president at Roadway Asset Services, said the city’s paved network is about 300 centerline miles (roughly 5.6 million square yards of pavement). A mobile survey van collected imagery and pavement distress data in late 2022 and the consultant adjusted those results for five years of subsequent maintenance activity to produce a current snapshot. The city’s network pavement condition index (PCI) averaged about 74 today, down from 76 in the prior snapshot.
Thomason reviewed three model runs: (1) the current annual pavement budget of about $2.1 million, which the consultant projects would allow the PCI to fall to about 69 in seven years; (2) a $20 million bond infusion combined with the $2.1 million annual program, which would hold the system near today’s condition (projected PCI ~73); and (3) a $50 million bond infusion that would raise the average PCI to about 79 after seven years. The consultant emphasized the cost of deferral: routine preservation such as microsurfacing costs roughly $5–6 per square yard while mill/overlay and full reconstruction cost many times as much if the pavement is allowed to deteriorate.
Roadway Asset Services also produced modelled annual budgets to maintain a given network PCI. Maintaining a PCI near the current level across the next seven years would require about $5.75 million per year (today’s dollars); the higher PCI target (79) implied an annualized maintenance need of roughly $3.5–$5.9 million depending on inflation assumptions.
Council members discussed the political feasibility of city‑wide bonds and asked staff for breakdowns by council district. Staff said they would produce a draft project map showing candidate streets and attempt to allocate the program across districts so the proposed program would be geographically balanced for voters. Staff also said they would provide projected tax impacts of several bond sizes and suggested an August 14 schedule to consider ballot language and a tentative November ballot if council chooses to proceed.
Consultant Zach Thomason said the plan used an optimization algorithm rather than a worst‑first approach in order to capture the most pavement “bang for the buck” and to avoid paying exponentially more later by letting roads fall into reconstruction category.
City staff said they will return with the draft list of candidate streets, district allocations and tax impact projections for council consideration; council directed staff to provide the material quickly for the August meetings so members can determine whether to put a bond question on the November ballot.
