Public Works outlines 2025 pavement strategy, proposes $500,000 shift to asphalt to finish Progress West work

Chris Klerks, the city's Capital Improvements manager, presented the 2024 Pavement Manual update and walked the Public Works Advisory Committee through accomplishments, methods and the proposed 2025 funding strategy.

Klerks said the manual draws on Transmap pavement condition index (PCI) data from St. Charles County (2019 and 2022) and that a third data set expected in 2025 will let the city better model pavement performance. He described a shift in data collection between 2019 (random spot sampling) and 2022 (continuous drive-segment collection), which captures crack and deflection measures for whole segments.

Klerks summarized the city's pavement inventory and 2024 results: about $430 million of network asset covering roughly 700 lane miles; in 2024 the program replaced about 2,258 concrete slabs (roughly 6.4 lane miles), installed 26 curb ramps, repaired ~254 slabs as part of concrete repairs and completed sidewalk work. He said Public Works replaced roughly 576 road slabs internally and completed significant curb, gutter and lineal-foot repairs.

On targeted joint repairs (partial-depth repair, PDR), Klerks said the 2024 pilot used a hot-applied mastic joint material applied in a contract program and by Public Works. "We put about 281,000 pounds of that material in last year," he said, adding the pilot covered about 14 lane miles of residential pavement and translated to roughly 8,000 bags of joint material. Klerks said the material has remained intact through recent winters where used and that the city will refine where the treatment is most economical.

During Q&A, committee members pressed on specific sites. On the Progress West / Cracker Barrel area, members asked whether an especially deteriorated stretch was a public street; staff said they would check jurisdiction and follow up if the segment is private. Klerks noted the strategy pairs concrete replacement (the most invasive work) with targeted joint repairs the following year so the city avoids redoing areas unnecessarily.

Klerks described contractor criteria for joint-grinding and repair: contractors typically target joints greater than about 2 inches and commonly grind widths in the roughly 12'22-inch range; larger repairs and full replacements are generally handled by Public Works. He also explained city preferences: "Overall maintenance is supposed to be generally better because with asphalt you have to come in and do preservations''you get maybe 10 to 15 years out of asphalt before you mill and overlay," Klerks said. "If all is right with concrete, we should get 25'30 years before we need to come back." (paraphrased)

On 2025 funding, Klerks said the city will keep the concrete program near prior levels but proposes shifting $500,000 from concrete into the asphalt program to raise the asphalt budget to $800,000 and complete the remaining work at Progress West. He said use-tax revenue has been critical: the local use tax (approved by O'Fallon residents in 2020) generated about $2 million for concrete repairs in 2024, and since 2022 the tax has contributed roughly $7.3 million toward pavement maintenance. Klerks told the committee, "we'd need 10 to 12 to 15 million just to even try to catch up," underscoring that current work still addresses a small fraction of total network needs.

Why the mix of asphalt and concrete? Klerks said developers can choose pavement type under current code and that the city tends to favor concrete for its longer life-cycle when feasible; he also noted life-cycle cost tradeoffs and practical constraints such as gas/oil price volatility for asphalt materials.

What comes next: Klerks said bidding is underway for 2025 work, the city will proceed clockwise by ward (Ward 1 concrete replacements and added asphalt work, Ward 5 targeted joint repairs next, Ward 4 crack sealing, Ward 3 a mix of targeted joint repairs and asphalt preservation) and staff will report back to council. Committee members asked staff to verify jurisdictional responsibilities on problem streets and requested follow-up details on specific marked slabs (for instance, the Walden Pond entrance).

The committee did not take a formal vote on the funding reallocation at this meeting; Klerks said he will bring details to council and to the committee as bids and final budgets solidify.

Ending: The presentation closed with members thanking staff for the detailed briefing and offering to review follow-up answers on jurisdiction and specific slab markings next month.