Asphalt condition Monday on Potrillo near Rio Bravo in Pajarito Acres. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Driving on paved roads can be a complicated process. Sometimes drivers need to swerve around potholes and rattle over cracks. Likewise, maintaining roads and streets is no simple matter.
Monday, Los Alamos County began its pavement and assessment management project. A contractor, IMS Infrastructure Management Services, will be out on the County’s streets for the next three weeks surveying the roads, Traffics and Streets Division Manager Juan Rael wrote in an email to the Los Alamos Daily Post. This is work is done every five years.
Public Works Director Anne Laurent explained that the IMS uses camera and laser technology to evaluate the County’s roadways.
She said the contractor looks for changes in street surfaces such as whether they are smooth or have bumps or dips. Additionally, the contractor looks to see if there are cracks and if so how wide.
“After the field work is completed, the data will be complied into a report that designates a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating for every road in the County,” Rael said. “This rating is used in the prioritization of roadway projects, as the County has a target goal in terms of minimum PCI for the County.”
Laurent said PCI rating ranges from zero to 100. Zero, she said, is poor and 100 is perfect. The goal is to have the streets average rating at 80 or above.
Overall, Laurent said the County is making good progress to improve the condition of the public streets.
“We do a pretty good job here,” she said.
Laurent said other factors such as routes to schools, main traffic collector streets and roads that need a lot of repair work also are considered in prioritizing road reconstruction projects.
Public input is another factor, Rael said.
“Public input is an important component of prioritization,” he said.
Rael encourages the public to attend Transportation board meetings, which are currently held on Zoom the first Thursday of the month. Additionally, residents can participate in the budget hearings during which the monies for street improvements is discussed.
Some residents may wonder why one street is given improvements while another street, which is in far worse shape, is not having anything done to it.
“We just don’t want to waste preservation money when we know it needs and is scheduled to be completely reconstructed,” Laurent said.
For instance, a Los Alamos Daily Post reader questioned the condition of the streets in Pajarito Acres, which recently were given a surface treatment. The reader wondered why, shortly after this work was done, the road was cracking.
Laurent said the project was a surface treatment and not a mill and overlay, which was done on Trinity Drive and Diamond Drive last year.
The edges of the roads in Pajarito Acres were deteriorating, she said, so they were built up using asphalt millings then sealed over. The existing road surface cracking was not anticipated to be eradicated in the process, and the goal was to stabilize the road edges and extend its life.
She noted that the project was budgeted at $563,000 and to do a mill and overlay project would cost significantly more. Furthermore, a past surface treatment garnered complaints so a new alternative method was chosen.
Besides waiting for the funds to completely reconstruct certain roads, Laurent said sometimes Public Works needs to coordinate with the Department of Public Utilities.
It doesn’t make sense, she pointed out, to reconstruct a road only to have it completely ripped up in order to install new utility lines.
Once roadwork is completed and the orange cones and construction signs have disappeared, it doesn’t mean the street is no longer addressed, Laurent added.
She said all projects come with a one-year warranty. During this period, County staff will meet with the contractor to review and inspect the project. If anything is wrong or issues arise, the contractor fixes them, Laurent said.
As far as the budget for preserving and improving roads, Laurent said $800,000 is allocated annually to the budget. Any unused budget rolls over into the following year.
“The roll over is important when we are looking at larger cost projects we need to save up funds to complete,” she said. “This includes both asphalt and concrete preservation/repair work done by County staff or by a contractor.”
Rael said the County also turns to the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) for funds.
“Los Alamos County applies for NMDOT Local Government Road Funds. Recently the Caminos (Cereza, Mora and Manzana), Tsikumu Village, and the current on-going Barranca Mesa project were partially funded with these NMDOT grants,” he said.
There are challenges to keeping roads in good condition for drivers, particularly in Los Alamos, Rael said.
“Los Alamos County is located in a mountainous climate where the weather plays a big factor with the longevity of our roads,” he said. “Particularly the freeze-thaw cycle takes a heavy toll on our roads. Also, one of our biggest challenges is balancing the amount of work we can accomplish during the warmer months. The materials we use have specifications that dictate the temperature they can be applied under and typically we have between late May and early October to accomplish this work.”
Still, Los Alamos County remains diligent to overcome these challenges, Rael said.
“We typically like to start the planning process early and try and have the work under contract by the time the weather is favorable,” he said. “It should also be noted that the County also performs a large volume of roadway maintenance with its in-house crews. The Traffic and Streets crews spend the summer months doing pavement preservation work along with maintaining the County’s concrete infrastructure including replacing damaged sections of sidewalk, curb and gutter and drainage structures. The County crews are highly skilled and accomplish a high level of work throughout Los Alamos and White Rock. Recently County crews have completed concrete and pavement maintenance work on Sage Loop, Broadview and Estates drives, Sherwood Boulevard and are currently working in the Ponderosa Estates neighborhood.”
The most recent PCI report can be viewed at https://www.losalamosnm.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6435726/File/Government/Departments/Public%20Works/Engineering%20and%20Project%20Management%20Division/IMS%202016%20Report%20Rev3%20-%20Los%20Alamos%20Co.pdf
