Goodyear proposes stricter pavement-cut policy to protect streets and slow repeated repairs

City staff on Nov. 4 presented a proposed pavement-cut policy intended to protect Goodyear’s street network from repeated utility and development trenching. Sumeet Mohan, public works director, told the council it costs about $1,500,000 to build one lane-mile of collector street and described the city’s collective street asset as roughly $1.7 billion, framing the proposal as a long-term preservation measure.

Mohan said the current policy (in place since about 2012) relies on relatively small surcharge fees for recent cuts and none for older pavement, producing a patchwork of repairs that reduce the city’s pavement-condition index. The proposed policy would shift from surcharge collection to restoration and repair requirements designed to restore roads to equal or better condition than before a cut.

Key technical points staff outlined: for streets less than two years old, pavement cuts must be repaired with an asphalt overlay or inlay covering the full width of affected travel lanes; for streets older than two years, a less-intensive secondary treatment such as a microseal or slurry seal would be required. The treatment would extend 25 feet in both directions beyond the cut, and crews must apply crack sealing and edge treatments to prevent water migration. Staff said the city will initially publish a list of recently completed preservation projects and planned projects for the next 24 months and later display them on a public GIS map.

Mohan said staff modeled the policy on peer cities (Phoenix and Chandler), accounted for those jurisdictions’ lessons and conducted stakeholder outreach that began Sept. 10. He reported only one formal stakeholder comment during the outreach period (from the city’s water services department), but acknowledged developers and utilities told staff they were familiar with similar rules elsewhere.

Council members asked whether the new requirements would increase the cost of development and urged the city to monitor potential legislative pushback. Councilmember Stipp and others noted that the 25-foot restoration requirement could be expensive for developers; staff said they reviewed peer-city practices to avoid excessive requirements and that the policy could be revisited if staff identifies ways to reduce the treatment zone. Members also sought clarity on striping restoration: staff said temporary striping would be applied within 24 hours of an overlay or seal and thermoplastic marking would be applied within 30 days, with all work reviewed by development services civil engineering inspections.

Staff said the policy would come back for formal adoption on Nov. 18 and the proposed effective date is Jan. 1, 2025. No formal vote occurred during the work session.