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Paving for Progress: City reports $221 million invested, FY26 budget set at $28.56 million
Summary
Public Works told the Infrastructure Committee the Paving for Progress program has invested $221 million to date, improved nearly 120 miles of road and carries a FY26 budget of $28,560,000 as staff publish an updated long‑term paving plan.
Doug Wilson, pavement manager for Paving for Progress in the Cedar Rapids Public Works Department, briefed the Infrastructure Committee on the program’s progress and an updated long‑term plan for street work.
"Our budget for fiscal year 26 is $28,560,000," Wilson said, and he noted the city is entering the program’s second decade in year 11. He told members the citywide pavement condition index rose to 59.7 in 2023 from 57.8, and that most streets are in "very good to fair condition," while roughly 4% remain in very poor condition.
Wilson said Paving for Progress has invested $221,000,000 in roads since the program began, compared with about $55,000,000 in bond sales in the decade before the program. "We've improved nearly 120 miles of road," he said, a figure he said represents more than one‑sixth of the city's roughly 600 miles of roadway. The program has completed 386 separate projects and continues to deliver 40–50 local street projects per year.
Staff presented a data‑driven long‑term plan that shows three phased implementation periods, roughly 2026–2028, 2029–2031 and 2032–2034, and accompanying maps and quadrant breakdowns. Wilson said the updated plan and a project‑by‑project spreadsheet (listing project extents, lengths, facility types, priority scores and implementation notes) will be posted on the Paving for Progress page on the city website.
Committee members asked about geographic distribution of work. The chair noted a previously compiled spending split showing about 52% of Paving for Progress dollars on the east side of the river and 48% on the west side; Wilson confirmed those figures vary by large projects but reflected the program's analytics‑driven prioritization.
The presentation also highlighted outreach: more than 120 public hearings and about 150 neighborhood meetings since the program began, plus 40,000 informational letters to property owners. Wilson said the team expects to publish the updated long‑term plan online in late March or early April.
The committee did not take a separate vote on the plan at the meeting; this presentation served as an update and to accompany the forthcoming published plan.
