PART II: 2007 Pavement Management and Truck Impact Fee Study

ABSTRACT: At the City Council meeting on February 5, 2008, Margot Yapp, V.P. of Nichols Consulting Engineers, gave a power point presentation to the public. The content of the power point is presented, including Scenarios 1-3 and a road impact fee to assist in offsetting the city’s funding shortfall. Throughout the presentation, Margot Yapp described Carmel-by-the-Sea’s present status as “at the edge, on the cliff right now” and said it is “time to take action.”

Power Point Presentation
By Margot Yapp, Nichols Consulting Engineers

• How Do We Measure Pavements?
Pavement Condition Index (PCI): Scale from 100 (“best”) to 0 (“gravel").
Excellent-Good: PCI 70-100
Fair: PCI 40-69
Poor: PCI 20-39
Very Poor/Failed: 0-19
Carmel-by-the-Sea PCI 70; boundary between Good and Fair

• 2007 Average PCI
26.8 centerline miles
Average PCI: 70 (“Good” condition)
$34.4 million replacement value

Pie Chart for Carmel-by-the-Sea:
Good Condition: 55.9% of Entire Network
Fair Condition: 39.1% of Entire Network
Poor Condition: 4.7% of Entire Network
Very Poor PCI: 0.3% of Entire Network

The “not so good news” for Carmel is that 5% is “Poor” to “Very Poor;” the “Poor” and “Very Poor” require significant amounts of funding to repair.

• Four Photos depicting Street Conditions
Photo 1: PCI = 95 Action = Do Nothing
Photo 2: PCI = 75 Action = Crack or surface seal
Photo 3: PCI = 55 Action = Overlay
Overlays are costly, costing “10 to 15 times more than seal.”
Photo 4: PCI less than 20 Action = Reconstruction

• Scenario 1: Unconstrained Budget ($9 million over 10 years)
Improve from PCI 70 (2007) to PCI 78 (2017)

• Scenario 2: Maintain PCI = 70 ($660 k/yr)
“Desirable funding scenario,” but “red flag” of backlog increases from about $2 million to $4 million over ten years.

• Scenario 3: City Budget ($450k/yr)
Current Overall PCI 70 decreases to PCI 57 (2017)
Backlog increases from $2 million to $8 million, a quadrupling.

• Why Are Costs So High?
Pavements are deteriorating rapidly; at PCI 70, a street begins to deteriorate rapidly. Presently, Carmel-by-the-Sea is “at edge of cliff, time to take action.”

Asphalt prices have increased five-fold since 1999

• Impact of Trucks vs. Cars
Trucks have 2000x the impact of cars!
Definition of “Trucks” includes buses, garbage trucks, and heavy vehicles.
45% of total traffic due to trucks
Of 45%, 60% due to construction traffic

• Road Impact Fee
Assessed on all building projects
Adopted by other cities and counties including Monterey
Carmel has $20 million annually in building permits
1% fee will raise $205,000/year

• Annual Financial Impact
Pavement Needs: $660,000
Avg. City Budget: $382,000
Shortfall: $ (278,000)

1% Road Impact Fee: $205,000
Remaining Shortfall: $ (73,000)

• Recommendation:
Preserve good streets-fully fund all preventive maintenance activities
Maintain existing pavement conditions at $660,000 a year
Adopt road impact fee

As a warning and in closing, Margot Yapp spoke of Santa Cruz County’s situation. Santa Cruz County contracted with Nichols Consulting Engineers to conduct a similar pavement study in 2000. In 2000, Santa Cruz County roads were about PCI 70. Santa Cruz County did not implement the study’s recommendations. Later, in 2007, Santa Cruz County again contracted with Nichols Consulting Engineers to conduct another pavement study; a finding of the study was that their “shortfall” had increased from $40 million in 2000 to $240 million in 2007.