Council opts to wait for third opinion on best fix for roads
To chip-seal or overlayer-that is the question
By Nathan R. Huff
Everybody agrees Los Gatos needs to fix its ailing roads. Agreeing on how to do so is proving more difficult.
Faced with opposing opinions from two experts, the Town Council sent the 2000-2005 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) back to staff on May 22, for further review and possible revision. The CIP hit the snag when council members raised questions about the pavement management plan (PMP), which comprises nearly half the total CIP budget.
The CIP lays out a timeline for the town's infrastructure improvements each year. This year's CIP expenditures are $4,591,010. Of that amount $2,866,500 is earmarked for street and signal improvements. Storm drains, park and public facility improvements and placing utilities underground comprise the bulk of the remaining 2000-2001 CIP budget.
After a review of the draft CIP, councilman Joe Pirzynski asked why only 15 streets will be reconstructed or overlaid this year. The town had adopted a PMP in 1998 that called for upgrading over 200 streets by 2001, and over 400 by 2004. The ambitious program planned to use chip-seal as the primary form of maintenance, a method the town's present consultant, Scott Alman, believes is not a cost-effective solution.
Chip-seal, much like a spot-treatment, is the cheapest form of street repair. Overlaying--adding a new layer of asphalt--is more expensive. The most expensive but longest-lasting option, is total reconstruction. Since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Los Gatos roads have received little attention, something staff and the current council have tried to change the last few years.
"You're looking at 50 years or so of neglect," town manager Dave Knapp told the council. "I'm struggling with the fact that I've got a plan that was set in place with one attitude and a professional engineer that says that would be a waste of money." Knapp added that increased traffic volumes had accelerated the deterioration of many town streets.
Pirzynski said that, contrary to Alman's opinion, chip-seals have progressed substantially in the last few years and now provide longer lasting relief to pockmarked roads. He cited San Jose's successful chip-seal road repairs, even on streets with moderate traffic. Pirzynski asked that the town get a third opinion before advancing a plan that substantially reduces the number of streets the town would repair over the next few years.
"If we're not actually delivering what the council agreed to deliver, and the community expects us to give that service, then we're the ones that get the response from the community," Pirzynski said.
A number of Mulberry Court residents listened closely to the discussion before providing the council with their own scathing review of the town's street repair program. Frequent attendees of road-related council meetings, Mulberry Court residents expressed frustration with their street's condition and the town's past promises to fix it.
"I see roads around the corner from us repaved," Christie Ross said. "I know our street is one of the worst in this town and I know you all know this." Mulberry Court is among the streets scheduled for total reconstruction next year.
Pirzysnki said it was cases such as Mulberry that made him wary of taking an all or nothing approach. "The neighborhood streets are the ones that are going to be pushed back," Pirzynski later said, adding that if the economy had a downturn in the next few years, the town would not be able to complete street repairs. "We need to accomplish, as quick as possible, a rehabilitation of our road system."
Town staff will return on June 19 with a new CIP plan. Knapp said he would likely ask the council to approve a specified amount, and let Larry Perlin, the town's new parks and public works director, work out a balance between satisfying immediate concerns and remaining cost-effective. Perlin has an engineering background.
"There is no correct answer here," Knapp later said. He added the town had repaired the majority of its major streets over the past several years, including the $2 million reconstruction of Winchester Boulevard. Knapp said that, while the town attempted to solve individual street problems, the town's focus has been on the major feeder streets used by all residents.
The council must adopt a CIP budget on June 19, though it won't necessarily agree on which roads will be overhauled first.
"We had one expert say the planned seal program would work," councilwoman Linda Lubeck later said, "and another expert that said a planned seal program won't work. We want a third opinion."
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
