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Amarillo staff details multi-year plan to keep streets in good repair, seeks revolving fund and mill-and-fill capability
Summary
City staff told the council Amarillo—s average Pavement Condition Index is about 74.5 and recommended spending remaining Prop 1 funds ahead of deadlines, switching to annual arterial PCI surveys, creating a revolving maintenance fund, and building an in-house mill-and-fill operation to preserve pavement at lower long-term cost.
City public-works staff on Feb. 25 laid out a multi-year strategy to preserve Amarillo—s roads, asking the City Council to back faster assessments, new financing and a shift toward in-house paving capability.
Donnie Hooper, the city—s public-works lead for the presentation, said the city—s average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) for arterials is roughly 74.5 and described a five-point plan to prevent long-term deterioration: accelerate spending of remaining Prop 1 bond dollars to meet expenditure deadlines; change the street-assessment model to annual arterial surveys rather than a three-year full-network cycle; create a revolving maintenance debt fund; develop an annual funding recommendation for reconstruction; and create an in-house mill-and-fill operation, including equipment and staff realignment.
"PCI index is basically ... zero is bad, 100 is good," Hooper said, explaining the index that guides repair choices. He and staff also described tools the city recently acquired, including 'dur patchers' for faster pothole response, and proposed a Mill-and-Fill program the city estimates would cost about $3 million in the first year to buy equipment while using current personnel for operations.
Staff presented financing scenarios intended to stabilize the network: roughly $1.4 million in debt service would generate about $12 million annually available for street maintenance, a figure Hooper said would maintain the city—s PCI in the low- to mid-70s. Under the city—s current $2.6 million annual overlay budget, the PCI would decline toward the mid-60s over time, staff warned.
Hooper emphasized procurement and scheduling changes to speed delivery: annual winter assessments of arterials to identify projects before budget season, earlier bid timelines to capture contractor availability, and a plan to design major reconstruction projects (issue debt for design first) so they are shovel-ready when construction debt is issued.
Council members asked about sequencing and trade-offs (sidewalks, lighting and value-engineering choices), and staff said the recommended package is designed to stretch available dollars while preserving the most heavily used roads first. Hooper recommended council include an $87,105 construction alternate to pre-install corridor lighting for the Georgia Street project to avoid higher retrofit costs later.
Next steps: staff will return in March with more detailed financial numbers when the CFO can be present, and again in April to finalize budget preparation with specific project lists and timelines.
