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Pavement Condition Report SDOT assessed the condition of its arterial street pavements in 2003. Seattle's arterial pavements are, on average, in good condition, but many street surfaces are at or beyond their expected performance life. This is a strong indicator of future maintenance need. Moreover, the amount of pavement resurfacing, rehabilitation and reconstruction that Seattle accomplishes each year is less than the amount that it needs to complete in order to keep up with the maintenance need. The current amount of deferred maintenance is estimated to be about $310 million and is projected to increase to $560 million within ten years at the present level of investment.The 245 12'-wide lane-miles of arterial pavements in the worst condition need, or will soon need to be reconstructed. Because maintenance continues to be deferred, this amount will increase each year at present levels of investment. There is not currently any program in place to address this need. Moreover, the funds that are available for resurfacing and rehabilitation are too limited to permit making investments at the lowest life-cycle cost, adding to the maintenance burden and future investment needs. Streets in the worst condition cause inconvenience to drivers, increase maintenance demand on City forces and generate legal liabilities and claims for damages. Nearly two-thirds of Seattle's streets are the least-traveled, non-arterial streets. Funds have not been available to assess the condition of these streets since the mid '90's. Read the report to learn more |
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