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Oak Park trustees direct finance committee to pursue higher street funding after PCI study
Summary
A CMAP/AECOM pavement management study put Oak Park's network PCI at 66 and showed that maintaining that level requires about $5 million a year, while reaching a healthier 70'75 target would need roughly $5.5'$6.5 million annually; trustees asked staff and the finance committee to return with budget recommendations.
The Village of Oak Park heard a data-driven pavement management briefing Wednesday that put the municipal network's Pavement Condition Index (PCI) at 66 and laid out multi-year funding scenarios for preserving and improving streets.
Consultants from AECOM and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning showed results of a 2025 street survey using vehicle-mounted lidar, cameras and machine-learning crack detection, then fed those observations into the industry-standard paver software. "The overall village network is a 66," Abbas Kachwala of AECOM said. The study found roughly half the street mileage in "good" condition, about 13% in "fair" and roughly 37% in the poor-or-worse categories that typically need major rehabilitation.
The presentation mapped 10-year funding scenarios. "If money was no object, by spending about $11,000,000 per year you will reach a condition of 90," Kachwala said. But under more realistic assumptions, the consultants told the board maintaining the current PCI of 66 requires approximately $5,000,000 annually in local investments; raising the network toward the 70 to 75 range would require an additional roughly $800,000 to $1.5 million a year (about $5.5'$6.5 million total). Zero local investment, the model showed, would push the PCI toward the high 30s over a decade.
Village Engineer Bill McKenna and staff emphasized that the paver output is only one input for short-term capital planning. McKenna noted the paver scenarios focus on local street resurfacing dollars and that other projects (water and sewer reconstruction, streetscape work) add one-time roadway investments that are not always captured as local resurfacing funding but do affect overall roadway outcomes.
Trustees asked detailed questions about how preservation treatments extend pavement life, the software's assumptions, and tradeoffs between spending to preserve broadly versus rebuilding the worst segments. The board discussed narrower driving lanes and repurposing on-street parking to reduce pavement to maintain; staff cautioned that most curb-line changes require deeper reconstruction and coordination with water and sewer projects.
After discussion trustees reiterated a prior board goal to seek a PCI target in the 70'75 range and directed the finance committee to explore options that would move annual local investment toward the $5.5'$6.5 million range. Manager's office staff said they will return during the FY27 budget process with recommendations that reflect the board's feedback.
The board did not take a final funding vote Wednesday; staff framed the session as feedback to shape a forthcoming budget recommendation.
