This article will discuss the street system, annual maintenance needs, and how street maintenance has been financed in the recent past. Over the course of five years 21.2 miles of streets have either been paved or reconstructed. Through value engineering and a favorable competitive bidding climate, the City will be able to pave or reconstruct an additional 6.9 miles of streets beyond the 14.3 miles identified in the initial bond measure. With the completion of projects this summer, all of the funds from the 1996 bond measure will have been expended. In 1999 the City adopted an annual pavement management program consisting of both preventative and rehabilitative maintenance.
Preventative maintenance includes pothole patching and slurry and crack sealing.
Rehabilitative maintenance includes paving and reconstruction of streets. The goal of the pavement management program is to maintain the condition of the 75 percent of the City's streets that are in good condition and improve the condition of the 25 percent of the City's streets that are in very poor condition. Measure 50 has placed limits on the amount of money that can be collected from property taxes. In order to maintain other City services such as police, fire, parks and library, new funding for streets will need to be found. Therefore the City is looking for alternative sources of revenue to finance street maintenance.