Pavement and Road Work

5.2.1 Highlights of Current Operations This section includes the following activities:

• Pavement resurfacing preparation, surface failure, curb and gutter repair, crack filling, skinpatch

• Road Work – bridge repair, shoulder repair, guard rail repair, handrail repair, bridge cleaning

• Sidewalk reconstruction • Wheelchair ramp installation

In 2005, the combined current and capital allocation for road resurfacing was $923,000 ($650,000 capital and $273,000 current). The capital budget road resurfacing is completed externally through a contract managed by Public Works and the current budget road resurfacing is undertaken largely by internal staff. Based on feedback from staff, the estimated cost to resurface a lane km of road is $40,000.

5.2.2 Benchmarking

Based on the feedback received during the review process, the focus for benchmarking was on several issues with respect to benchmarking to get a better appreciation of how services are provided and where the control over road resurfacing resides.

As shown in the following table, the dollar amount spent by the City of Peterborough tends to be lower than a number of other municipalities surveyed. For example, the City of Peterborough allocates $1,099 per lane kilometre versus the survey average of $1,659.

Municipality # of lane kms Amount

Amount Per Lane Km Where road resurfacing is budgeted Responsibility for Road Resurfacing Contract or Internally Provided

Brantford 400 $ 1,500,000 $ 3,750 Capital budget Engineering Contract Clarington N/A Capital budget Engineering Contract Guelph 851 $ 975,000 $ 1,146 Capital budget Engineering Contract Newmarket 250 $ 250,000 $ 1,000 Capital budget Engineering Contract Sarnia 460 $ 800,000 $ 1,739 Current Budget Engineering Contract Waterloo 470 $ 600,000 $ 1,277 Capital budget Engineering Contract Whitby 960 $ 1,000,000 $ 1,042 Capital budget Engineering Contract

Average $ 1,659 Peterborough 840 $ 923,000 $ 1,099 Moved largely to Capital Budget Public Works (Separate From Engineering) Capital through contracted services, current largely internal

Peterborough (Capital only) 840 $ 650,000 $ 774 Capital Only

Public Works (Separate From

A number of factors influence the amount of the funds allocated to road resurfacing including but not limited to the following:

• Overall condition of the roads and age of the infrastructure • Weather conditions

• Road service standards which may be set above the minimum regulated standards • Mix of roads (classifications)

• How services are provided and cost per lane km (contract versus in-house) • Municipal pavement standards

• Volume and type of traffic using the road

5.2.3 Gap Analysis Sufficient Resources

The benchmark for roads to be resurfaced is every 8-12 years which would indicate that, on average, approximately 10% of the roads should be resurfaced annually (assuming an even distribution of age of the existing roads). Over the past 5 years, an average of 2.4% of the roads is resurfaced annually, falling short of the benchmark.

Timeliness of Repairs

Public Works staff currently carry out road restoration works. Concern was expressed during the review process with the time that it takes for restoration work to be completed to repair utility or road cuts. This is an area which should be reviewed to determine if contracting out would create efficiencies, be cost effective and free up staff to complete other work where resources are limited.

5.2.4 Pavement and Road Work - Service Delivery

In 2005, staff time allocated to these activities was approximately 26,040 hours, the equivalent of 15.3 FTEs (22.4% of total Public Works staff hours). The main activity within this portfolio in terms of staff time is sidewalk reconstruction which represents approximately 5% of the total Public Works staff time.

As shown below, the majority of the pavement and road work is considered a candidate for alternate service delivery however some are preferred over other activities. In addition, there are opportunities that should be explored to rationalize road resurfacing work within the Utilities portfolio.

Activity Name Non - Core Rationalized ASD Full Time Hrs Part Time Hrs Total Hrs % Full Time Total Estimated FTE % of total PW hours

Pavement Resurfacing Prep 2 0 2 100.0% 0.00 0.0%

Pavement Surface Failure 13 4 16 78.1% 0.01 0.0%

Pavement Curb & Gutter Repair 158 74 232 68.1% 0.14 0.2%

Pavement Crackfilling 1 1 100.0% 0.00 0.0%

Pavement Skinpatch 7 31 38 18.4% 0.02 0.0%

Pavement - Other 3,248 1,555 4,804 68% 2.83 4.1%

RW Bridge Repair 20 1 21 95.1% 0.01 0.0%

RW Shoulder Grading 453 52 504 89.8% 0.30 0.4%

Right of Way (Carcass Removal) 722 29 751 96.1% 0.44 0.6%

RW Guard Rail Repair 31 9 40 78.6% 0.02 0.0%

RW Handrail Repair 3 3 100.0% 0.00 0.0%

RW Bridge Cleaning 27 5 31 85.5% 0.02 0.0%

Right of Way - Other 128 26 154 83% 0.09 0.1%

Sidewalk Reconstruction 3,345 2,590 5,935 56.4% 3.49 5.1%

Wheelchair Ramp Installation 176 92 267 65.7% 0.16 0.2%

Sidewalks 7 0 7 100% 0.00 0.0%

Surface Drainage 928 106 1,033 90% 0.61 0.9%

Weeds Boulevard Mowing 1,071 25 1,096 97.7% 0.64 0.9%

Weed Control - Other 296 0 296 100% 0.17 0.3%

Recoverable - No GST 7,204 3,198 10,401 69% 6.12 8.9%

Recoverable - with GST 286 124 410 70% 0.24 0.4%

18,122 7,919 26,040 69.6% 15.3 22.4%

The majority of staff time in this area is spent on sidewalk reconstruction. As illustrated above, there are a number of essential activities such as pavement crack filling which prolongs the life of the road which the data suggests are not being undertaken.

Road resurfacing was once the responsibility of Engineering and was moved in 2002 to the Public Works Division. There is no clear distinct definition of what work is in the Engineering realm (Capital) and what is in Public Works (Maintenance). Over the years, some activities, such as resurfacing, have moved between the Divisions in an effort to find an effective management approach. Issues were raised by staff as to where the management of the work carried out should actually reside. Commonly, it is the role of the Engineering Group to take the lead in providing the following services:

o Design and Construction o Specifications and Tendering o Inspection of Municipal Works o Capital Budget Planning o Asset Preservation Planning

o Road Occupancy Control and Utility Coordination, and o Traffic Engineering

Public Works operations typically play a support and advisory role to the Engineering Group in these areas. This is an area where rationalization of the services could be beneficial. All the municipalities surveyed maintain the responsibility for the supervision of road resurfacing by the Engineering and Construction Division as opposed to Public Works in the current model in the City of Peterborough. The need to apply lifecycle and sustainability computer modelling to the roads assets is the driving factor for having the Engineering group manage the pavement strategies.

Resurfacing decisions are currently based on the ride ability of roads, with limited co-ordination with underground services. This results in inefficiencies if roads are resurfaced and then need to be torn up again to address water/sewer capital projects.

By moving the road resurfacing area to the Engineering and Construction Division there may be opportunities for improved contract pricing for materials for asphalt through joint tendering and improved pricing through economies of scale.

Sidewalk reconstruction and other concrete works are usually provided through external contracted services and can be bulked into larger tenders for management pricing reasons.

5.2.5 Pavement and Roadwork Recommendations

That the City update its asset condition assessment of its roads to determine an annual budget that is aligned to the lifecycle of the underlying assets and the maintenance of roads in accordance with approved maintenance standards.

That Public Works and Engineering and Construction rationalize the delivery of pavement and roads works to ensure that the services are provided in the most efficient and effective manner and to take advantage of joint tendering opportunities. Specific examples of where services should be rationalized to Engineering and Construction include pavement resurfacing preparation, utility or road cut repairs, surface failure, curb and gutter repair, crack filling, skin patch and sidewalk repair and construction.