Council study session flags limited staff capacity, directs review of CIP priorities and several projects

The Mountain View City Council held an extended study session on March 25 to review the draft capital improvement program (CIP) for fiscal years 2025–2030 and to give staff direction on project priorities and trade-offs.

Public-works staff told the council that the city is carrying a large project backlog and that public-works project managers are managing far more projects than typical industry norms. Jennifer Ng, the city—s Public Works Director, said the CIP is a critical planning tool and that the current portfolio contains roughly 303 active projects, with public works managing 243 of those. Ng told the council the plan is a mix of nondiscretionary projects (maintenance and replacements) and discretionary projects, and that unrestricted (flexible) funds have declined and are likely to constrain new projects in Year 1 of the CIP.

Assistant Public Works Director and City Engineer Ed Arango presented a pavement update and funding analysis. He said the city—s pavement-condition index (PCI) had declined to 67 from 71 and outlined the projected investment needed to maintain or raise that metric: approximately $6.5 million per year is the current baseline, a minimum of $8 million per year would be required to stabilize PCI, and roughly $14 million per year would be needed to improve the index by five points over five years. Arango said staff will prioritize pavement projects but noted a heavy project backlog and limited staff capacity.

Council and public comment focused on active-transportation priorities, the potential for road diets to reduce long-term pavement costs and increase shade and livability, and on whether grant-funded projects are being elevated without an explicit accounting of staff impacts. Several public speakers urged the council to prioritize safe active transportation projects. James Kuzmolt, a public speaker, framed the trade-off in public-safety terms: “How we spend our resources, our budget, our staff time, our road space should reflect the urgent safety need the city has,” he told the council.

Staff questions to council and council direction: Faced with constrained unrestricted funding and limited staff capacity, staff asked for council—s guidance. The council asked staff to: (a) prioritize nondiscretionary projects funded by unrestricted funds first; (b) evaluate which roll-forward discretionary projects might be deferred; and (c) identify specific new discretionary projects the council would like moved forward, noting that any new work will require trade-offs. Specific items the council asked staff to analyze further or to consider for deferral included: North Bayshore wayfinding/signage work, select school-site or school-district facility projects that are on hold for coordination, several turf-replacement/resurfacing replacements, the proposed citywide traffic-signal operations center (planning/design), and some shoreline and Caltrain-crossing projects that depend on outside agencies.

Stevens Creek Trail extension and El Camino protected intersections: Council members also discussed the Stevens Creek Trail extension (a multijurisdictional project requiring Caltrain coordination and multiple bridges) and asked staff to evaluate whether construction should be deferred by a year; council members expressed differing views but asked staff to return with additional analysis. On El Camino Real, council asked staff to study protected intersections and related protected-bike-lane improvements; staff will return with safety and coordination analysis, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Parks & Recreation Commission will be briefed during the CIP process.

Next steps: Staff will present a revised CIP at a second study session in May, bring the CIP back for adoption in June, and coordinate the updated CIP with advisory bodies. Staff also said it is rolling out a project-management system and expects beta testing within the next six months to improve scheduling and tracking.