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City explains how pavement condition index guides street repairs, outlines county partnership for Ocean Avenue work
Summary
City officials described how the pavement condition index (PCI) determines repair priorities, gave cost ranges for preservation versus reconstruction, and said the county will reimburse the city for resurfacing outside the city line on Ocean Avenue.
City officials outlined how they prioritize street work using the pavement condition index and described a partnership with the county to resurface a section of Ocean Avenue without cost to the city.
The city’s staff member who spoke explained that streets are scored on a 0-to-100 PCI scale and that treating a street early saves money: preservation work can cost about 20 cents to $1.25 per square foot, while full reconstruction can run more than $5 per square foot. “When it’s in good condition, the work you have to do to preserve it is only between 20 cents and a dollar 25 per square foot,” Speaker 2 (Staff member) said. “When you have to completely reconstruct a section of road, it’s upwards $5 plus per square foot.”
Officials said the city balances funding each year across preventive preservation, resurfacing, rehabilitation and reconstruction to maximize mileage treated. The staff member urged residents to report problem segments and said public works keeps a comprehensive spreadsheet that tracks segments, their PCI scores and planned timing.
Speaker 2 described additional patching work using hot-mix asphalt for smaller defects and said the city has experimented with micro-surfacing on San Carlos — a high-volume bus and truck route — which staff believe has performed well so far.
The staff member also praised recent coordination with Monterey County, noting jurisdiction lines are not obvious to drivers. “One of the projects that’s happening over the next few months is resurfacing outside of the city on Ocean Avenue heading up, but that’s a partnership project between the county and the city,” Speaker 2 said. Later, Speaker 1 (Staff member) clarified funding: “The county will be reimbursing us for that section from the city line to State Highway 1 to the Caltrans right away. So there won’t be any expense to the city.”
City staff said they are exploring broader regional coordination — with neighboring cities such as Monterey, Pacific Grove and Seaside — to increase quantities of paving work and seek lower material prices by pooling demand.
The presentation emphasized the tradeoffs officials face when deciding which streets to preserve now and which require more costly reconstruction later, and it invited residents to notify public works of localized potholes or other defects that may not yet be scheduled for reconstruction.
