Translate[Archived] Question #57: The Street Reconstruction and Resurfacing FY 2018 Project List
Question:
The Street Reconstruction and Resurfacing FY 2018 Project List includes $280,000 for work on W. Braddock Road from North Quaker Lane to North Early Street with no funding available for complete streets design and improvements. This section of road has a decent 40 PCI rating. It is also right in front of the site of the new Minnie Howard school facility. Couldn't this project be deferred so a complete streets design effort could be done in conjunction with the new school's needs? Could those saved funds be spent on identified Safe Routes to Schools (SRS) projects?
Response:
West Braddock Road between North Quaker Lane and North Early Street includes sections with Pavement Condition Indices (PCI) as low as 38, which is considered very poor/serious. Roads in this category are extremely deteriorated with numerous areas of instability and large sections of structural deficiency. It is not a best practice to defer resurfacing of a road in very poor/serious condition. As conditions deteriorate, the underlying base may require more substantial repair, which can significantly increase costs. Staff does not recommend deferring maintenance on West Braddock Road given that the school capacity improvements proposed by ACPS would not begin until FY 2021. The need for pedestrian/bicycle safety improvements on West Braddock Road associated with a potential new high school will be considered in the traffic study associated with that project and could be implemented as part of that capital effort. However, as is common practice for all resurfacing, West Braddock Road will be evaluated prior to resurfacing to ensure that sidewalks, medians, curbs and gutters are in a state of good repair and meet the requirements of ADA. Finally, even if the school project does not come to fruition, the resurfacing of a road does not preclude future safety improvements for people who walk or ride bicycles. While it is ideal to make improvements in coordination with paving, it is common for the City to add markings and crosswalks in later years. Staff is aware of the approved Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan designations for the West Braddock Road. The following is a description of PCI ratings by range.
| Condition | Rating Index | Definition |
| Good | 86-100 | Stable, no cracking, no patching and no deformation. Very good riding qualities. |
| Satisfactory | 71-85 | Stable, minor cracking, generally hairline and hard to detect. Minor patching and possibly some minor deformation evident. Dry or light colored appearance. Good riding qualities. Rutting less than ½". |
| Fair | 56-70 | Generally stable, minor areas of structural weakness evident. Cracking is easier to detect, patches evident. Cracking is easier to detect, patched but not excessively. Deformation more pronounced and easily noticed. Ride qualities are good to acceptable. |
| Poor | 41-55 | Areas of instability, marked evidence of structural deficiency, large crack patterns (alligatoring) heavy and numerous patches, deformation very noticeable. Riding qualities range from acceptable to poor. |
| Very Poor/Serious | 11-40 | Pavement in extremely deteriorated condition. Numerous areas of instability. Majority of section showing structural deficiency. Ride quality is poor. |
| Failed | 0-10 | Pavement structure failed. All of section showing severe structural deficiency. |