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Roads need money infusion

Public Works officials say $1.4-million a year is needed to keep the county roads as smooth as possible, with asphalt prices continuing to go higher and higher.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published June 7, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Nobody's suggesting standing in the middle of the road and staring at the pavement across Hernando County. Just that if you did, you might spot the cracking, pitting and "alligatoring" that marks a road in decline - finer points missed by cruising motorists.

"Some of the roads that look good are not that good," said Bill Busch, the county's pavement management coordinator.

Busch, in fact, does stand in the middle of roads and stare at the pavement. And what he's seeing lately has him worried, he told commissioners Tuesday.

Such worries usually lead to a request for money, and this was no different. The Hernando County Public Works Department needs another $1.4-million a year to keep local drivers on asphalt and out of potholes, said department director Charles Mixson.

"In six or seven years, we're going back where we started if we don't get some more funding," Mixson told the board.

Mixson spends about $6-million a year maintaining the county's roads. That's not enough to keep pace with asphalt prices, he explained. In 2001, asphalt, made up largely of oil, cost $36 a ton. Now it costs about $75 a ton.

Postponing road projects doesn't save money, either. The longer maintenance is postponed, the more it costs, Busch said.

"This is what happens when you leave them alone," he said, pointing to a slide showing a badly pocked and pitted road. "At that point, it starts costing $150,000 a mile."

With the additional $1.4-million a year, the department would be able to get the 289 miles of collector roads into "very good" shape and keep them that way. The 788 miles of residential roads also would be maintained, but the quality of the roads would drop over the next five years from "good" condition to "fair". The condition is defined by a Pavement Condition Index that scores roads from zero, or failing, to 100, or very good.

The plan doesn't take into account other big-ticket road costs, like purchasing right of way to widen roads and shoulders, widening roads, adding new roads and improving intersections, Busch said.

When those costs are factored in along with pavement management, the projected shortfall over the next decade tops $200-million, according to a presentation given to the recently folded Citizens Advisory Committee.

The 25-member committee tried and failed to find a solution to the shortfall. Now the County Commission faces the same quandary.

None of the options are politically popular. The board could raise the property tax rate, tack on a 3-cents-a-gallon gas tax, or ask the voters to approve a sales tax, a measure voted down in 2004.

Borrowing to pay for roads is also under consideration, said County Administrator Gary Kuhl. The steep increases in asphalt prices have outpaced interest rates in some cases, making it cheaper to borrow than wait, he said.

Without additional funding, the county will see a steady decline of a road network that has taken six years to build up at a cost of about $35-million, Mixson said.

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352754-6127.

[Last modified June 7, 2006, 07:28:47]