In a special meeting Wednesday, the Goleta City Council approved the proposed Paving Priority list and directed staff to proceed with a design for a combined 2020/2021 Pavement Rehabilitation Project to fix at least 10 different roads.
In a special meeting Wednesday, Goleta City Council members unanimously approved the proposed Paving Priority list and directed staff to proceed with a design for a combined 2020/2021 Pavement Rehabilitation Project.
The council chose a budget of $5.8 million a year over a five-year period to meet the PCI goals previously established by the council.
The annual $5.8 million doesn’t include future year inflation or increased construction costs.
The Pavement Management Plan is a tool used during the design phase to help establish priorities. The design phase is likely to take another three months to complete, followed by another two to three months to advertise for construction bids. This would be followed by another two to three months to award the project and start construction.
The budget scenario selected will be an increase of $3.3 million per year, so the city now needs to identify a dedicated revenue stream or alternative financing option.
“What I’m hearing from our constituents is that we can’t continue to just put Band-aids on things. We’ve got to do it right,” said Mayor Paula Perotte during the meeting. “We have a big problem, and it’s not going to go away until we figure out how to fund it, and our constituents expect that from us.”
The Pavement Rehabilitation Project is funded by sources including Gas Tax, SB1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, Local Surface Transportation Program and Measure A funding.
There are nine priorities city staff listed for the project. Some require complete reconstruction of the roadways; others call for grind, overlay and pavement repairs.
The top two priorities are to reconstruct the roadway of Cathedral Oaks Road from Glen Annie Road to Alameda Avenue, an estimated cost of $1 million, and perform overlay, pavement repairs and a six-inch grind to Cathedral Oaks Road from Calle Real to Winchester Canyon Road, an estimated cost of $750,000.
Other repairs and reconstructions include sections of Glen Annie Road, Storke Road, Calle Real, Colomoa Drive, Forest Drive, Evergreen Drive, Hillview Drive, Hollister Avenue and Kellogg Avenue.
The total estimated cost of repairs is $6 million.
“At some point, we’re going to have to face the fact that we need more resources, and if we’re going to make the kinds of changes we need, we’re going to have to invest in our roads,” said council member James Kyriaco. “It’s increasingly clear to our residents as we enter into a new stage of COVID that there’s going to be a lot of impacts on our scarce resources now, and for at least the near term, I’m reminded of the expression, ‘You can’t give what you ain’t got.’
“It’s time to make the hard choices, start to face these issues, confront them head on and be honest with people,” he continued. “I think the public will understand and support our efforts.”
Staff recommended that the council consider costs of long-term needs of the PMP alongside costs of other needs and commitments facing Goleta.
More information on these options and how the council will find a source of revenue will be presented to the council during a workshop on Dec. 10.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
