Advisory committee backs pause to Pedestrian and Bike Improvement program to prioritize street maintenance

The Washington County Urban Road Maintenance District Advisory Committee told commissioners on Feb. 4 it supports staff’s recommendation to pause the Pedestrian and Bike Improvement (PBI) program and redirect funds toward street maintenance.

Dix Steinberg, chair of the advisory committee, said the PBI program has delivered “impressive results” since the board authorized it in February 2011, but that changing maintenance needs and rising costs now warrant a pause. “Since its creation, the PBI program has supported a total of 75 projects with an investment of almost $40,000,000,” Steinberg said. He told the board that material and contract costs have increased substantially and that the district’s average pavement condition had declined.

The advisory committee endorsed pausing the PBI program “in order to redirect funds towards street maintenance” and recommended developing additional funding for maintenance to avoid pavement conditions falling below the board’s established target. Steinberg also noted there are “currently 215 unfunded PBI projects,” and said the committee expects that number to grow if funding for maintenance is insufficient.

The recommendation presented by the advisory committee was framed as endorsement of a staff recommendation; the transcript does not record a formal board vote on reallocating funds during the meeting’s public portion.