City of San Jose 2019 Pavement Maintenance Program

Location

San Jose, CA

City or County Responsible for Project

San Jose Department of Transportation

Category

Roads: Efficient and Sustainable Road Maintenance, Construction and Reconstruction Projects.

Author

Rick Scott

Organization

City of San Jose Department of Transportation

Address

1404 Mabury Rd, San Jose, CA, 95133

Phone

(408) 794-1925

Project Description

The City of San José’s Department of Transportation (DOT) manages a street network that consists of 2,434 (30-ft equivalent) miles. Of that total, 944 miles are considered major streets that carry most of the City’s traffic and 1,490 miles are local and neighborhood streets where most of our residents live. Due to budget constraints, local and neighborhood streets have not been maintained since 2011. Funding for street maintenance in San José dramatically changed in 2016 with the passage of SB1 and VTA Measure B, although the City was unable to access Measure B funds for two years due to a legal challenge. Two additional major changes occurred in 2018; San Jose voters passed Measure T, a bond measure which provides $300 million for maintenance on 388 miles of local and neighborhood streets in the worst condition, and the legal challenge to VTA Measure B was resolved. DOT had to quickly evaluate several possible funding and delivery models to ensure the rapid and efficient deployment of new funding streams and developed a comprehensive 9-year plan to maintain every local and neighborhood street by 2028 while keeping the major street network in good condition. In 2019, DOT successfully turned the approved transportation dollars into 12 pavement construction projects for a total of 290 miles of street maintenance. All projects were successfully completed before the winter suspension for the first time in recent history which has also included delivering over 2,400 ADA curb ramps along the pavement corridors. Using an online platform, DOT coordinated with all internal and external stakeholders and incorporated complete street features such as protected bike lanes, video detection at signalized intersections, and road reconfigurations. The total number of miles delivered in 2019 were roughly three times more than the miles delivered in and ten times more than the miles delivered in 2013 (Attachment A: Historical Pavement Maintenance Miles). To ensure public transparency and accountability, the City has developed a three-year look ahead to be updated annually, with milestones for each year. This plan has been coordinated with all internal and external stakeholders including utility companies, managers of planned construction projects, elected officials and other City departments to ensure smooth delivery and reduced disturbance to residents and businesses. Each year this plan will be shared publicly giving residents and commuters an idea of when the streets they use will be refreshed or resurfaced. An interactive pavement project map lets the public see the big picture (Attachment B: Three Year Paving Plan blog post). DOT estimates that its deferred maintenance backlog will be reduced by over $729 million by 2029 when compared to projections made in 2017, representing a momentous and sustainable improvement to the long-term health of the City of San José’s street network.