Supervisors call for five-year pavement condition index restoration

The new state legislation raising gas taxes and vehicle registration fees may be a hardship for motorists, but it provides some relief to local governments responsible for maintaining roads. The expected additional income has allowed the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to call for the restoration of the county's average pavement condition index to a rating of 70 within the next five years.

A 5-0 Board of Supervisors vote May 2 authorized the use of $34 million in reserves which will allow the average pavement condition index of county-maintained roads to be raised to 70 within five years.

The state Road Repair and Accountability Act was approved after the county's preliminary 2017-18 budget was prepared, and the supervisors also directed the county's chief administrative officer (CAO) to include that revenue in a change letter for the final proposed budget.

"It's certainly something the public can support," said Supervisor Greg Cox. "Our residents very soon will be enjoying a better network of roads."

At one time, gas tax revenue was used for nearly all of the road fund budget, but a combination of more drivers creating additional wear and tear on the roads, better fuel efficiency and increased mass transit use which have reduced the quantity of gas purchased and thus gas tax revenue, and decreased funding from the State of California has forced the county to utilize other sources.

The 2016-17 road fund amount of $92.4 million consisted of $79 million for maintenance and operations and $13.4 million for capital projects. Gas tax provided $51 million of the maintenance and operations amount. The San Diego Gas & Electric franchise fee the utility pays for its use of public roadway provided $5 million for the road fund.

The county now uses part of the half-cent TransNet sales tax for transportation to cover road maintenance; TransNet accounted for $2 million of the 2016-17 amount. The county's Department of Public Works (DPW) used $14.5 million of previous-year balance for 2016-17 expenses and the 2016-17 budget also allocated $6.5 million of reserves for the road fund.

The county maintains 1,954 centerline miles and 3,981 lane miles of public road along with 200 bridges, 76 miles of guardrail, 18,460 culverts, 188 traffic signals, 6,651 street lights, and 37,292 traffic signs, so DPW must spend operations money on items other than road maintenance. In addition to road surface treatments, the maintenance and operations expenses include tree and brush trimming, striping, street sweeping, drainage, snow removal, emergency response, signals and signs, and customer requests.

DPW's total 2016-17 funding was $244.5 million, which included development planning, sidewalks and gutters, flood control, County Airports, recycling, and other functions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed a pavement condition index which utilizes a specialized vehicle with downward facing cameras to inspect roads and determine road condition. An index of 71 to 100 is considered very good, an index of 51 to 70 is considered good, an index of 26 to 50 is considered poor, and an index of 0 to 25 is considered very poor.

The county's pavement condition index was 71 in 2010, 67 in 2012, 64 in 2014, and 60 in 2016. According to the DPW presentation Feb. 14, at the current level of funding the index would decrease to 45 by 2026.

"If we allow the roads to get in worse condition it costs a lot more money to bring them back up to standards," said Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

Roads in the very good category, which include 39 percent of the county's roads, need only routine maintenance. Remediation for roads in the good category, which account for 29 percent of the county's roads, is primarily sealing at a cost of $80,000 per lane mile.

An overlay costing approximately $180,000 per lane mile is needed to restore the 23 percent of roads which are in the poor category. Major rehabilitation including the removal of all asphalt and the subgrade base has an estimated cost of $310,000 per lane mile and is the needed treatment for the 9 percent of the county's roads in the very poor category.

The county share of the state gas tax has declined from 39.5 cents per gallon in fiscal year 2013-14 to 27.8 cents per gallon in 2016-17, and the county's gas tax revenue has declined from the $70 million it received in 2013-14. Not only is the current $51.0 million less than what the county received in 2000-01, but when the 2000-01 amount is adjusted for inflation the 2016-17 equivalent would be $88 million.

Maintaining an average pavement condition index of 60 would require $30 million of annual expenditures. Improving the index to 65 would require $40 million annually to reach that number in 10 years, and $45 million annually to achieve that standard in five years, while $31.5 million would be required annually for ongoing maintenance.

The cost to improve the index to 70 would be $50 million annually for a 10-year period, $56 million annually for a five-year program, and the annual ongoing costs would be $33 million. The estimated shortfall based on current revenue to bring the index to 70 would be $40.1 million for Fiscal Year 2017-18, $45.3 million for 2018-19, and $50.3 million for 2019-20.

On Feb. 14, the county supervisors voted 4-0 with Ron Roberts in Washington, DC, to receive the presentation from DPW on the county's road maintenance program, including: its funding challenges and the impact on pavement conditions; to direct the CAO to return to the board with a funding plan within 90 days which would identify options to reach a pavement condition index of 70 within five years; to direct the CAO to draft a letter to be signed by Jacob as Board of Supervisors chair urging Governor Brown and the state legislature to prioritize and approve a funding solution which will address deteriorating road conditions throughout the state; and to work with the county's Congressional delegation on possible federal funding.

The April passage of the Road Repair and Accountability Act raised the gas tax by 12 cents a gallon effective November 2017, raised diesel fuel excise tax by 20 cents a gallon and diesel sales tax by 4 percent effective November 2017, imposed a new transportation improvement fee added to vehicle registration charges effective spring 2018 (the additional fee is between $25 and $175 annually based on vehicle value), and added a $100 annual fee for zero emission vehicles which create the same amount of wear on roads as cars which use gas starting in 2020.

The increases include an annual adjustment for inflation, and the Road Repair and Accountability Act also ends the state Board of Equalization's price-based gas tax adjustment and resets the rate to 17.3 cents effective July 2019.

A separate legislative action passed a state constitutional amendment, contingent upon voter ratification in the June 2018 election, to guarantee that the revenues will be used for transportation purposes rather than diverted to non-transportation programs.

The Road Repair and Accountability Act is expected to provide local governments with an additional $7.5 billion of funding over the next 10 years, including $538 million for San Diego County. The Road Repair and Accountability Act stipulates that the new funding shall be prioritized for expenditures on basic road maintenance and road rehabilitation projects and on critical safety projects, although the funding is also allowed to be used for railroad grade separations, street segment completions, pedestrian and bicycle safety projects, transit facilities, drainage and stormwater capture projects in conjunction with another allowable road project, traffic control devices, and local match requirements for state or federal funding.

The county must provide the California Transportation Commission with a list of projects proposed for funding with Road Repair and Accountability Act revenue by mid-June of each year. The first list will be due June 15, 2017, so the budget change letter will include the road maintenance projects to be funded during 2017-18. Once the funds are spent local governments are required to submit documentation to the California Transportation Commission which includes a description and the location of each completed project, the amount of funding expended, the completion date, and the estimated useful life of the improvements.

The additional projected revenue allowed DPW to develop four options to improve the average pavement condition index. Achieving an average of 70 within five years with the new revenue would require borrowing up to $34 million from the general fund between fiscal years 2017-18 and 2021-22. The other three options did not require money from the general fund: an average index of 67 in five years and 70 in seven years, an average within five years of 70 on major roads and 65 on local roads which would equate to a network average of 67, and an average of 65 on major roads and 70 on local roads which would also result in a network average of 67.

"We have some very good options in front of us," Cox said.

Although the option to attain an average of 70 within five years would require borrowing $34 million, the reduced rehabilitation requirements will reduce the net cost to approximately $16 million, so that was the supervisors' choice.

"New state funding coupled with a loan from the general fund will mean a significant increase in road maintenance and the quality of your commute, and that's always good news," said Supervisor Bill Horn.

In recent years the county has used rubberized asphalt concrete, which costs approximately 10 percent more than ordinary asphaltic concrete but is more durable than normal concrete, on high-volume roads.

"I think it's important that we continue to focus on being creative and proactive in our solutions," said Supervisor Kristin Gaspar. "This money will eventually go away. The moment that we start not paying attention to the roads they become more expensive over time to repair."