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Street Repair Update City documents comprising the 2010 Pavement Manage Report are available for public review as backup data for the July 6 council meeting. Item No. 19 on the agenda is “The Pavement Management Program: Year 2010 Update.” Here are the links: A paragraph in the first document gives an overview of the purpose: “In order to qualify for its annual apportionment of local Measure M and Renewed Measure M transportation revenues and to qualify for competitive grant funding opportunities issued by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), each Orange County jurisdiction must prepare and submit an eligibility package that documents its consistency with Measure M requirements. One of the requirements is a Pavement Management Program (PMP) update that is conducted every two years." The final paragraph of the Executive Summary states that "excellent" is no longer the title of the top category, and "very good" is the new phrase. However, standards remain the same for this category of roads in best condition, as determined by a Pavement Condition Index. The report specifies that the city has “identified” $2.27 million for resurfacing arterials and an additional $960,000 for a section of Oso Parkway. The city contractor responsible for surveying the condition of the streets is Nichols Consulting Engineers. According to the documentation, the average condition of Mission Viejo streets is the top category, "very good." It will be interesting to see how the data from Nichols will reconcile with information provided by Mission Viejo residents who surveyed approximately one-third of the city’s 1,086 streets. During a 2009 Planning Commission meeting, a city employee stated that $85 million would be needed to bring city streets “up to standards.” Ultimately, residents can judge for themselves whether their streets are in “very good” condition. Watchdogs have pointed out that the city’s cycle of street repairs was changed from five to seven years. The question is the potential net loss (aesthetic as well as financial) by allowing the infrastructure to decline to a point where weeds are sprouting from wide cracks in the middle of streets. From a financial angle, streets in poor condition cost up to seven times more to repair than those with less damage in a shorter cycle. |
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