HUDSON, OH (October 30, 2019) – Over the past few months, Council has been discussing ways to fund an accelerated road program that would improve the overall rating and drivability of our roads. At the October 29 meeting, Council directed staff to put a 10-year $2.3 million bond in the 5-Year Plan and Budget that could be used to accelerate the concrete overlays in 2020-2021 and would extend the life of these roads. Hudson’s experience is that overlaid streets would not require full resurfacing for at least 20 years. The bond amount would be in addition to a $2.7 million annual road budget. The annual repayment for the $2.3 million bond will be $265,000/year.
The City will use the savings from eliminating the need for the annual Concrete Overlay and Concrete Repair Program budgets to cover the annual cost of the bond repayment. The current annual budget for the combined Concrete Overlay and Concrete Repair Programs was $450,000. The bond would eliminate the need for these funds so that after payment on the bond debt service, $185,000 would be available to fund other projects. A revised annual Concrete Repair Program of $100,000 for sidewalks and ADA ramp repairs and other miscellaneous repairs would still leave $85,000 for other uses, or it could be saved.
Apart from this bond, the City will receive an extra, estimated $500,000/year from the State’s Gas/Diesel Motor Fuel Tax Increase. The cost to maintain the road system at its current PCI rating is approximately $2.1-$2.3 million. The additional gas tax funds could be used toward increasing the Annual Road program to $2.7 million per year.
With the bond money focused on concrete overlays, the annual $2.7 million a year road program would use $1 million toward repaving major streets and $1.7 million would go toward local, neighborhood roads including the Asphalt Patching program.
The five-year (2020-2024) results of this funding option are:
- Major Street Paving: By 2024, 100% of the major streets noted above would be resurfaced.
- Concrete Overlay Paving: By 2021, 100% of the remaining concrete streets would be repaired/overlaid. Thereafter, the Concrete Overlay funding is eliminated.
- Annual Concrete Repair Program: Can be reduced from $225,000/year to $100,000/year to address only sidewalk, ADA ramp and other misc. concrete repairs, leaving any leftover funds to use in other areas.
- Savings for Additional Projects: $85,000.
- PCI Rating: Increase from 71 today, to 78 in 2024.
The goal is to use PCI as the overall basis for selection along with criteria that evaluates drivability or smoothness and Average Daily Traffic (ADT).
Council will approve the accelerated road program as part of the overall 5-Year Plan and Budget later this year.