SEQUIM — Repairing all of Sequim’s streets to get to the point where all the city needs to do is inexpensive routine chip-and-seal maintenance would cost $8.5 million over five years.
That’s what Paul Haines, city public works director, told the Sequim City Council this week.
Capitol Asset & Pavement Services Inc. was contracted by the city to evaluate the condition of the city’s 54 miles of streets and alleys.
The company’s inspection, done by Metropolitan Transportation Commission standards, showed that the city’s roads are in decent shape — scoring 74 points out of a possible 100, Haines said at Monday night’s council workshop.
“We’re in pretty good shape for a few more years,” he said.
A city with all brand new streets would score a 100, while a city of entirely dirt roads would score a zero, he explained.
The ideal score for the lowest cost of ongoing maintenance is 84, he said.
Haines explained that to get the roads to a score of 84, the city would need to spend $1.7 million per year for five years to repair roads that are currently in deteriorating condition and to continue the maintenance of other roads to keep them in good condition.
“We have a serious dilemma here, said City Manager Steve Burkett, adding that the city simply doesn’t have the money to pay for the intensive maintenance, but can even less afford to repair roads after they have deteriorated.
“It can cost 10 times as much or more,” Burkett said.
The presentation was an information-only workshop to inform the city council of the results of the street study, which was finished in February, and no decisions were made regarding road maintenance.
Currently, main arteries and collectors are in pretty good shape, but neighborhood streets have more problems, with 30 percent of streets in “less than good condition,” Haines said.
New streets may look great, so cities choose to spend funds on repairing those more than 15 years old, and ignore the newer streets, he explained.
New roads should get chip-and-seal treatment every five years from the time it is installed, Haines said, explaining that such work can extend the life of the road for decades, at a huge long-term savings.
A typical city street will last 25 years without such maintenance, he said, with a total replacement cost of $160,000 per 1,000 feet of roadway.
Chip-and-seal treatment every five years, with a minor overlay at 25 years, costs less than half that, and extends the life of that road by decades before needing replacement, he said.
Haines said that at current expected spending levels — $690,000 in 2012 and $430,000 for each year thereafter, the average road condition score in Sequim will drop to a score of 70 — the very bottom level of what is considered “good condition.”
The council also accepted a request from the Master Gardeners of Clallam County to drop out of the Water Reuse Demonstration Park master plan program.
The Master Gardeners have been part of an agreement with the city and Washington State University Clallam County Cooperative Extension, development of the master plan at the city’s Demonstration Park, because of a lack of funding.
The group will continue to seek donors to fund various sections of the park plan, and hopes to be able to return to work with the city again in the future.
Volunteers will continue weeding and caring for the existing garden, the council was told.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
