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Commissioners approve 2025 asphalt paving and preservation program; board aims to raise overall pavement index
Summary
El Paso County approved its 2025 paving and preservation list, directing public works to continue a preservation-first strategy to raise the county's pavement condition index (PCI). The resolution passed 4–0, with one commissioner excused from a procedural vote.
The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners voted Jan. 28 to approve the county’s 2025 asphalt paving and preservation program, a multi‑million-dollar plan the Department of Public Works presented as a preservation-first strategy to raise the countywide Pavement Condition Index (PCI).
Joshua (Josh) Palmer, County Engineer, summarized the program to commissioners. “Our objective for our maintenance program is really just preserve the roadway infrastructure that we have,” Palmer said. He told the board that the county’s average PCI rose from about 68.63 in 2023 to just under 71 in 2024 and that the department’s goal is to increase the index by about one point per year over the next five years.
Palmer described the department’s data-driven approach: the county drove every mile of its roadway network in 2022 and will update that assessment in 2025 using lidar, laser crack measurement and ground-penetrating radar. He and interim executive director Jack Ladley said preservation techniques — cape seals, microsurfacing and wide crack repair, among other tools — extend pavement life and lower lifecycle costs compared with reconstruction.
Palmer cautioned that material-price inflation has reduced purchasing power: “Since 2019, the cost of materials alone for our pavement work has increased by more than 50%,” he said, noting that higher material costs mean fewer lane miles can be treated without additional funding.
The department’s recommended 2025 list allocates lane miles across commissioner districts for both paving and preservation. Commissioners discussed prioritization, funding sources (property tax revenue through PPRTA and other county allocations) and contractor strategies; Palmer said the county had recently used a prequalified-contractor approach to improve pricing and schedules.
Vice Chair Christian Williams moved approval of the resolution; the board later moved to excuse Commissioner Bremer from a procedural vote related to the item. The resolution to adopt the 2025 paving and preservation program was then approved on a roll call: Commissioner Wysong — aye; Commissioner Applegate — aye; Vice Chair Williams — aye; Chair Carrie Geithner — aye. Commissioner Bremer was excused from the procedural vote and had participated earlier in discussion online.
