2021 Bituminous Pavement Rehabilitation Project

The City's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) contains the following CIP projects (see attached CIP summary sheets):

• Annual Bituminous Overlay Project CIF-21-012, which consists of joint and crack repair, patching, milling, constructing ADA compliant pedestrian curb ramps and paving a bituminous overlay of various streets throughout the city.

• Annual Trail Rehabilitation Project CIF-21-013, which consists of reclaiming and reconstructing the bituminous trail surface, and constructing ADA compliant pedestrian curb ramps for trails along Independence Boulevard.

• Annual Trail Reconstruction Project PA-21-01, which consists of reclaiming and reconstructing the bituminous trail surface, and constructing ADA compliant pedestrian curb ramps for trails in Holmes Park.

• Annual Pavement Rehabilitation Project CIF-21-011, which consists of joint and crack repair, patching, a chip seal coat and/or a profile mill and bituminous skim coat of the streets in the Whispering Oaks neighborhood.

These projects are a continuation of the City's Pavement Preservation Program to maintain existing infrastructure. These projects are proposed to be combined for bidding and construction due to the similar nature of the proposed improvements, to realize economies of scale and to save staff time in coordination. The combined project shall be named the 2021 Bituminous Pavement Rehabilitation Project. 

The size, scope and costs associated with the projects generally remain the same as identified in the CIP plan. However, the portion of the project pertain to the Whispering Oaks neighborhood, warrants additional discussion as follows:

Whispering Oaks Neighborhood

The pavements in the Whispering Oaks neighborhood have deteriorated significantly in recent years and warrant maintenance beyond that of a typical pavement rehabilitation project, most notably Horizon Drive.

The streets in the Whispering Oaks neighborhood were constructed in 2003 (only 18 years old), received a chip seal coat in 2010 and crack sealed in 2013. Over the last few years, the roadways have shown accelerated deterioration and distresses typically related to poor subgrade and a lack of subsurface drainage. The roads have large areas of alligator and block cracking, deep transverse cracks with adjacent deterioration, significant alligator cracking in wheel paths, and settlements and cracking around manhole and gate valve structures (see attached Annual Rehabilitation Pavement Photos). The roads were built to the standards at the time, including 4-inches of bituminous asphalt and 9-inches of aggregate base. However, they did not include the 2-foot sand subgrade section with geotextile fabric and subsurface drainage, which are current city standards and requirements when poor subgrade is encountered.

With the pavement being only 18 years old, proposed repairs are notably more extensive and not as common when compared to our typical pavement rehabilitation projects. However, there is enough good pavement worth preserving and to proceed with repairs to extend the life of the existing pavement several more years to the approximate 25+ year mark, at which time a full-depth pavement reclamation would be anticipated to be needed. Of special note, a full-depth pavement reclamation also triggers direct assessments which is notable because it is good practice not to directly assess project costs for pavement improvements that are generally less than 20 years old. As a reference, the recent Wood Duck Trail project's pavement was at the 25-yr mark which was considered premature failure and in need of immediate full depth replacement.

With that said, the proposed pavement maintenance for Horizon Drive includes a profile mill adjacent to the curb and gutter, patching and crack repair as needed, and a 1.5-inch bituminous skim coat overlay for the entire length of roadway. The remainder of the streets in the project area will receive full-depth patching, crack filling, and mastic crack repairs as needed and topped off with a chip seal coat (see attached Annual Rehabilitation Project Map). It should be noted that the proposed bituminous skim coat on Horizon Drive is expected to show reflective cracking upon completion of the project and will continue to need a higher level of additional future maintenance until the roadways receive a full-depth reclamation. However, the proposed maintenance strategies are expected to be cost effective and feasibly extend the life of the roadways to a more normal cycle.

Project Procurement

Plans have been prepared for the entirety of the project and are ready to solicit public bids to construct the improvements. Upon approval, the advertising and bidding will commence with a scheduled bid opening of approximately April 12, 2021. Bids would then be considered at the April 20, 2020 City Council meeting. Construction of the improvements will be performed between May and September of 2021.

The following costs and funding tables provide the estimated amounts for each of the following projects:

• Table 1 - Annual Bituminous Mill & Overlay Project, CIF-21-012
• Table 2 - Annual Trail Rehabilitation Project, CIF-21-013
• Table 3 - Annual Trail Reconstruction Project, PA-21-01
• Table 4 - Annual Pavement Rehabilitation Project, CIF-21-011
• Table 5 - Total estimated project costs and funding for the 2021 Bituminous Pavement Rehabilitation Project (combined amounts from Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4)

Table 1. Cost and Funding Summary - Annual Bituminous Mill & Overlay Project, CIF-21-012

Table 2. Cost and Funding Summary - Annual Trail Rehabilitation Project, CIF-21-013

Table 3. Cost and Funding Summary - Annual Trail Reconstruction Project, PA-21-01

Table 4. Cost and Funding Summary - Annual Pavement Rehabilitation Project, CIF-21-011

Table 5. Combined Project Cost and Funding Summary - 2021 Bituminous Pavement Rehabilitation Project (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 Combined)

The overall CIP budget for all four projects is $3,055,000.  The updated combined feasibility costs amount to $3,110,000, which is $55,000 (1.8 percent) over the combined CIP budget.