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Pavement condition study: Durham’s average PCI stabilized but backlog is growing; $25–35M a year needed to hold or improve roads
Summary
A city pavement condition study presented April 9 found an average PCI of about 68, roughly stable since 2021, but backlog (roads with PCI ≤ 40) rose to about 16%; consultants said $25–30M/year would hold conditions and ~$35M/year would improve the network over 10 years.
City engineering staff and an outside consultant told Durham City Council on April 9 that recent investments helped stabilize the city‑maintained network at an average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of about 68, but structural backlog remains and continued elevated investment is required to prevent deterioration.
Assistant Director Tasha Johnson and consultant Scott Gordon (Roadway Asset Services) reviewed the condition survey and life‑cycle analysis. Gordon explained the finance tradeoffs behind different annual funding levels: preservation treatments (seals, microsurfacing) cost roughly $5 per square yard and can extend pavement life cost‑effectively, while structural fixes after a road falls below PCI 40 cost far more — about $29 per square yard in their modeling. "If we let the road deteriorate, it's going to fall into that much more expensive treatment," Gordon said, illustrating why optimized preservation is more cost‑effective than 'worst‑first' repair.
The study results: the city maintains roughly 782 centerline miles and 13.5 million square yards of paved area; average PCI is 68 (the national target band is ~65–75), backlog (PCI ≤ 40) rose to ~16% of the network. Modeling showed that an annual program of roughly $27–30M would hold the network roughly steady, while $35M per year would begin to reduce backlog and raise average PCI over a 10‑year horizon.
Council members asked detailed questions about geographic concentrations of poor pavement (staff said the poor sections are scattered), material choice (asphalt vs concrete tradeoffs), and whether the city would publish a multi‑year plan. Engineering staff said a financially constrained 10‑year plan is in production and that a 3–5 year project list for public transparency would be published this summer to help residents understand near‑term schedules.
Outcome and next steps: staff will finalize a 10‑year prioritized plan and publish a near‑term (3–5 year) roster of street projects for public visibility; council will need to decide future budget levels (the current blended program with bond support runs through 2027) if it wants to hold or improve network conditions.
