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DPW warns of large repaving backlog, proposes 25% rule and modified designs to extend pavement life
Summary
The Department of Public Works told the committee the city has over 6,500 blocks needing improvement and a multi-hundred-million-dollar backlog; DPW proposed a 25% excavation rule, concrete bus pads for heavy transit routes, and estimated the city can spend up to ~$45 million/year if funding timing and planning improve.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee conducted an extensive hearing on street repaving plans and the Department of Public Works' (DPW) strategy to address a multi-hundred-million-dollar backlog.
DPW director (speaker recorded as Abadi) told the committee the city has roughly 12,400 blocks (about 850 lane miles) and that more than 6,500 blocks are candidates for immediate improvement. Using a pavement condition index (PCI) scored 0'100, DPW inspects half the system every other year (so each segment is inspected every four years). The department estimated a backlog in the hundreds of millions; DPW presented the FY2006-07 resurfacing program (~$30.7 million) that funded work on several hundred blocks (DPW reported finishing 93 blocks and another ~216 blocks in various construction stages).
DPW outlined a suite of policy and design changes to improve longevity and reduce future costs: a proposed "25% rule" requiring any entity that excavates more than 25% of a block to repave the entire block (and bear the cost), increased inspection and enforcement of excavation restoration, and targeted use of concrete pads or hybrid designs at high-transit intersections and bus stop locations (Stockton Avenue cited as a pilot). DPW said such measures aim to prevent patchwork repairs that accelerate pavement deterioration.
Committee members pressed DPW on reprioritization decisions after complaints or accidents; DPW said complaints trigger field reassessments and, where warranted, reprioritization (Noriega Avenue was cited as an example moved earlier after an accident and inspection). Several supervisors expressed concern that political influence and calls from supervisors or the mayor's office appeared to affect project timing; DPW maintained decisions require justification (PCI, design readiness, utility coordination, ability to do work with internal forces) and warned that rigid line-item appropriation could reduce the city's capacity to deliver projects quickly.
On capacity and funding, DPW said the city could deliver about $45 million of paving work annually if funding timing and planning were aligned; $34'$35 million would maintain status quo conditions, and roughly $50 million per year would be needed to make substantial progress against the backlog. DPW also described a $1.6 million pothole program recently reorganized from reactive to proactive patching with systematic weekly routes.
The committee closed public comment and continued the item to the call of the chair for further oversight and possible budget line-item discussion.
