TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager, subsequent to the adoption of the Capital Improvement Program on an annual basis, to present Councilmembers with recommendations for residential street work allocating 50 percent of each District's residential street repair funding to preventative street maintenance and 50 percent to street repaving or rebuilding.
DISCUSSION
Due to years of difficult budget cuts, zero General Fund dollars are currently dedicated citywide for ongoing street maintenance, such as slurry sealing asphalt streets. Citywide money for residential street repairs in FY11 was provided by Measure R in the amou nt of $3,131,201, which was distributed to the nine districts in allocations determined by both need and an equitable distribution through the districts. Typically, these funds are used to repave or rebuild streets at a cost of approximately $3.50 and $6.50 per square foot, respectively. In construction, maintaining a street can be as much as 13 times cheaper, as slurry sealing costs approximately $0.50 per square foot
While council districts have taken different approaches to the use of their limited residential street work dollars, a "worst first" strategy has sometimes been utilized in which the worst streets in a district are the first slated for repaving or replacement While such an approach is intuitive, it is not the most efficient use of scarce dollars. According to the City Auditor's 2008 street review, "Extensive research has demonstrated that it is more economical in the long run to invest early in maintaining streets that are still in good condition than it is to defer maintenance until streets have deteriorated and more expensive repairs are needed. (Long Beach Streets Review Phase II, page 2). Additionally, the American Public Works Association states that "[p ]reventing streets in good condition from slipping into deterioration will break the chronic cycle" of paying more money for worse roads. (The Hole Story: Facts and ...
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