Roads

By Shawn Brandon

The roads in Bakersfield are in terrible disrepair. Years of neglect have left us $80 - $100 million behind in road repair. This is serious issue that has developed because of poor planning and management not because of a budget crisis. We did not get over $80 million behind in roads over the last two years.

There are two main types of road repair, resurfacing and reconstruction. The difference between the two is significant.

Resurfacing involves scraping off the top layer of asphalt and applying a new layer of asphalt. Reconstruction involves not only the top layer of asphalt, but also the road base below. The cost difference is significant. Reconstruction is 3-4 times as much as resurfacing.

After a roads surface has deteriorated, there is a time frame when it can be resurfaced and brought back to good working order. If the road is not resurfaced, weather is able to deteriorate the base below. Once this happens, the road must be reconstructed. We have over fifty miles of roads that need to be resurfaced now. If these roads are ignored, they will move to reconstruction tripling our costs.

Why are our roads so bad?

Our roads have deteriorated because of neglect and poor planning by the city not because of the state budget crisis. They determine which roads to fix by visual inspection and number of complaints. Basically the squeaky wheel gets oiled. That is why you see wealthier neighborhoods have their roads repaved over and over again while other neighborhood streets, like those in Ward 6, haven't been repaved since they were first paved thirty years ago. This is an un-fair biased system that discriminates against our middle class neighborhood.

What is the Answer?

If you want to get even more upset, the city has the answer and isn't using it. They have had it since 1997, paid over $200,000 dollars for it, and it's called a Pavement Management System.

A pavement management system uses systematic procedures for scheduling maintenance and rehabilitation activities based on optimization of benefits and minimization of costs. It allows the user to input the number of dollars they have for road maintenance then the computer tells us which roads to repair and how to get the most value for our dollars.

In essence, the roads that need the most work get repaired first to prevent them from moving from resurfacing to reconstructions. It's a non-biased system that repairs roads based on need, not politics.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, all fifty states, and many other cities use a PMS. In fact, California has been using a PMS since 1980. It is widely believed to be the best way to manage your roads.

Conclusion

We need to adequately fund roads to prevent roads that can be repaired today from turning into roads that need to be reconstructed tripling our costs. We also need to get our pavement management system back up and running so roads are repaired based on need and maximization of benefit not based on which neighborhood has the most clout with City Hall.