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City staff say preservation is key after PCI drop; full repairs would cost hundreds of millions
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Summary
Public works staff presented preliminary PCI results showing lower scores in 2025 versus 2022, noted vendor change may explain some variance, and said about $741 million would be needed to bring all streets to top condition; staff urged focusing on preservation techniques because the city’s annual revenue (~$20M from a half‑cent sales tax) cannot fund full reconstruction.
Public‑works staff on April 21 walked the Topeka infrastructure committee through the city’s pavement condition index (PCI) methodology, recent preliminary results and a pavement‑preservation strategy that staff said is more cost‑effective than waiting for streets to reach the end of their life cycle.
“PCI gets thrown in a lot. I just thought it’d be helpful to find what is pave PCI,” Jason said, explaining that PCI is a surface‑based index derived from laser scans and that the city has done systemwide scanning every three years since 2016. Jason said the 2025 results showed a decline from 2022, particularly on concrete and brick streets, and that a different vendor performed the 2025 scans — a change that can cause score swings of several points.
Jason said PCI bands guide maintenance decisions: streets scoring 86–100 generally need no intervention; 71–85 recommend preservation treatments; lower scores lead to more invasive and costly repairs. He gave a high‑level cost context: the city currently lacks the roughly $741,000,000 it would need to bring all streets to the “good” range; the half‑cent sales tax raises about $20,000,000 per year.
Staff described preservation methods and relative costs: crack sealing (a low‑cost treatment done frequently), microsurfacing and ultrathin bonded surfaces (short‑term lane closures), mill‑and‑overlay and full reconstruction (months to years and substantially higher cost). Jason illustrated that preservation extended a street’s effective service life and typically lowered average annual pavement cost compared with deferring work until reconstruction is necessary.
Committee members pressed for specifics. Ortiz asked about 37th Street (between Indiana and Adams); staff said the planned scope includes substantial north‑side full‑depth replacement, water‑line replacement, patching and a mill‑and‑overlay on other lanes. The committee also discussed an isolated broken 12‑inch water line on Huntoon between Gage and Harrison; staff said water had been restored and that the planned Gage‑to‑Harrison project would address needed water‑line work in its design phase.
Jason said the final PCI report and an interactive map with street‑level scores will be published to the council in the coming weeks; staff will bring projects back to the committee for prioritization and to fit within available funding.
“The key is that we have to keep as many assets in that front part of the life cycle as possible,” Jason said, summarizing the preservation approach.
