As you drive through Cypress, it becomes apparent that the City has an enviable street system. Our pavement network is one of the City’s most valuable assets and must be managed and maintained accordingly. Not only does it provide a travel way for both motorists and pedestrians, it can often raise property values of the neighborhoods and bring a sense of community pride. Furthermore, a well maintained system actually costs less to maintain.
The story of our streets can be told in the following attached maps. First, Map 1: 7 -Year Pavement History, shows Council’s commitment to appropriate paving funding. The $15 million of funding put toward streets has enabled the City to maintain its streets effectively. This funding includes the $800,000 of General Fund per year that is allocated to streets, for a total of about $5.6 million in General Fund over a seven year period or close to one third of the total. If this General Fund had not been allocated, the City’s streets would most likely rate from “Fair” to “Poor”.
The next map, Map 2: Street Network Conditions Fiscal Year 2009-10, shows the current condition of our pavement. The PMP currently reveals a Cypress network weighted PCI of 92.7, which gives the City one of the highest PCI ratings in the County. Looking at the map, one can see that almost every street is either blue or green, which means it is in a good or very good condition. By taking advantage of over $7.7 million in funding allocated by Council in the past two years, we have increased our pavement condition by 11 points since the last visual assessment performed in 2007, thus taking the overall pavement network rating from “Good” to “Very Good”. The large capital investments expended on street rehabilitation projects in the past two years has drastically improved the City’s pavement condition rating, and at the same time reduced annual program costs.
The third map, Map 3: Pavement Forecast Fiscal Year 2009-10, shows the streets scheduled for next year. This upcoming project is primarily composed of slurry seal to account for the last group of streets to be slurry sealed in order to complete the pavement network’s preventative maintenance program cycle. The City is using federal stimulus funding, through the Orange County Transportation Authority, to pave Valley View Street from Cerritos Avenue to Katella Avenue.
The fourth map, Map 4: Pavement Forecast Fiscal Years 2010-11 to 2015-16, develops a forecast for the next six years. Within this period, there will be a shift to a more balanced strategy budget-wise between the overlay and slurry seal programs. We will continue to overlay those streets that are past their intended design life and have already received multiple preventative maintenance treatments in the past and are currently due for overlay, while at the same time continuing to aggressively implement our slurry sealing strategy to maintain any streets that have been overlayed in the past few years.
It is important to note that the slurry sealing program can only efficiently maintain our streets for so long and that reconditioning of the road surface via overlay will be necessary down the road in order to avoid costly street reconstruction costs. In the years to come, shifting to an overlay based strategy will be essential for the City to maintain its overall pavement network rating of “Good” to “Very Good” and it is important for agencies to budget for these future needs in advance. In order for the City to keep its streets in Good” to “Very Good” condition, it is estimated that $11.3 million will be needed within the next seven years. This investment averages to $1.6 million per year, which is more than a 25% decrease in the actual average expenditures from the past seven years . Of that $11.3 million total, half is the committed $800,000 per year in General Fund allocated by Council. Furthermore, using the available General Fund, Gas Tax, Measure M Turnback, and Proposition 42 funds, the City has revenue sources to continue this program. It will be important that the State Proposition 42 continues to be a source of funds, otherwise the Council would need to appropriate additional funding from the General Fund.
It should be noted that the City’s current network PCI will drop over the next few years to allow the investment made by Council to appropriately depreciate, so that maintenance treatments are applied in a timely, yet cost effective, manner. This will mean that some streets may rate “Fair” using the PCI rating. While the technical rating, in engineer’s terminology, may decrease, Cypress residents will continue to drive on aesthetically pleasing, “pothole free” streets, so long as we continue to appropriately fund this valuable asset.
This plan and its model forecasts are not set in stone. No software is a substitute for engineering judgment since it involves only network level data. The forecasts and figures contained herein will be continually evaluated, modified, and changed to actual field conditions when the design is completed. Utility work, funding, and software limitations will require tweaks to bring a good project forward. This effort represents another step at using the latest technology and tools to better predict the future of the streets.
Public Works will continue on our future street programs to use the engineering philosophy that has been discussed in various American Public Works Association presentations and documents of using the right treatment on the right pavement at the right time. The City is well on its way to meeting its “aspirational” goal that no street within the City of Cypress fall below a condition of “Good” and that the citizens continue to enjoy the benefit of cost effective and well maintained streets.
Please feel free to review the presentation and the accompanying maps presented to Council at the meeting of April 27, 2009.
Pavement Management Presentation
Map 1 – Seven Year History
Map 2 – Current PCI Map
Map 3 – FY 2009-10 Forecast
Map 4 – FY 2010-16 Forecast
Any questions or comments should be directed to Alvin Papa, Senior Civil Engineer in the Public Works department at (714) 229-6746 or via email at apapa@ci.cypress.ca.us