By Phillip Pesola–
In a 4-1 vote last month, the Citrus Heights City Council voted to approve a three-year pavement preservation plan in an effort to improve roadway conditions across the city.
As presented to the council during a Dec. 14 presentation by General Services Director Regina Cave and pavement expert Cesar Lara from CAL Pavement Management, the new plan seeks to address road conditions with a different approach.
The Sentinel previously reported that the council had directed the city’s General Services Department to develop a long-term pavement restoration plan in September of 2022.
Cave, in her presentation, highlighted that Citrus Heights suffers from generally poor pavement conditions spanning all street categories. Historically, projects focused on repaving, which was described as a more costly and less-sustainable approach. The new plan instead involves more cost-effective methods like cape seals, slurry seals, and crack seals which she said are a fraction of the price of overlay paving.
According to a staff report, the city’s current approach to repaving has ranged from six to 20 streets per year, while the new plan will increase that number to “as much as 117 streets or street segments per year.”
During the presentation, examples from other cities, including Roseville and the City of Martinez, were shown to demonstrate successful pavement preservation tactics, which have reportedly proven to be financially prudent and also effective in improving street conditions, without triggering ADA compliance issues related to construction.
An estimate was shown comparing the cost of completely repaving the city’s streets to using more frequent but less costly sealing methods, over a 30-year period. The total cost for the conventional method was estimated at over $280 million, while the estimated cost of the new method over the same time was less than half the cost, coming in at about $136 million.
Following the presentation, councilmember Jayna Karpinski-Costa expressed concern over a list of specific streets which were included in the initial phase of the plan, saying: “Some of these streets have been paved twice before and they’re still on the list — and other streets haven’t been touched.”
Mayor Bret Daniels responded to his colleague’s concern and expressed support for the plan as proposed.
“Here’s the system that we’re using now. Hang in there, probably in four-to-five years you’ll be amazed at how all the streets in Citrus Heights look,” Daniels said, suggesting a response to residents who may ask why their streets aren’t on the list.
The item passed with a vote of 4-1, with Karpinski-Costa voting in opposition.
A full list of streets included on the plan can be downloaded here.
