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The capital plan (Chapter 6) of this element presents <br />the future transportation infrastructure investments <br />that are recommended to achieve the County's <br />mobility goals. However, the vast majority of the <br />County's future transportation system is already on <br />the ground today and needs to be operated, <br />maintained, and preserved over the life of this plan. <br />The critical importance of adequately funding <br />ongoing programmatic expenditures is emphasized <br />in Goal 5 of this plan: Sustainably Funded and <br />Maintains what We Have. <br />This chapter discusses conditions and trends in <br />programmatic expenditures related to the County's <br />existing roads and bridges. <br />4.1 EX11571NG SYS -TEN <br />The County road inventory consists of a total of 562 <br />miles of roads and 268 county -owned bridges. This <br />inventory does not include State Routes or city <br />streets, which are maintained and operated by the <br />State and city agencies, respectively. Rural roads <br />form the majority of the system (539 miles). A total <br />of 64 miles of county roadways were unpaved in <br />2017. <br />To keep this system functioning, the County makes <br />the following types of investments, which are <br />described in further detail below: <br />■ Maintenance. Routine and ongoing <br />activities to ensure facility utility, e.g. <br />pothole repair and snow and ice control. <br />■ Preservation. More substantive <br />improvements to extend the useful life of <br />assets, like pavement repair and chip seals. <br />■ Administration and Operations. Public <br />works transportation administration and <br />support, engineering and planning services <br />that support transportation projects. <br />Other Roadway Operations. Roadway <br />elements, buildings and maintenance <br />facilities that support the transportation <br />program. <br />• Construction. Roadway improvements, <br />safety and preservation projects, and parks <br />and recreation construction. <br />MAINTENANCE <br />The County performs regular maintenance on its <br />roadway system. Maintenance is considered a <br />routine activity associated with repairing a physical <br />asset or keeping the physical asset functional during <br />its useful life. The major maintenance activities <br />conducted by the county include: <br />• Pavement crack sealing and pothole repair <br />• Gravel road maintenance <br />• <br />Shoulder maintenance <br />• Roadside maintenance <br />• Road storm drainage facility maintenance <br />• Bridge/Culvert repair and maintenance <br />• Guardrail repair and maintenance <br />• Signing and striping <br />PRESERVATION <br />Preservation is the replacement or repair of an asset <br />to keep it in service at its lowest life cycle cost. <br />Examples of preservation are replacing a bridge or <br />repaving a roadway. There is a strong relationship <br />between maintenance and preservation, in that if <br />the County's roadways are well maintained, it will <br />maximize their useful life and minimize the cost of <br />keeping the roadways functional when it comes time <br />to repair/replace them. <br />The following activities are examples of <br />preservation: <br />Pavement repair followed by <br />o Chip Sealing <br />o Hot Mix Asphalt overlay <br />• Bridge rehabilitation/replacement <br />To monitor pavement maintenance and preservation <br />needs, Kittitas County maintains a Pavement <br />Management (PM) program that regularly collects <br />data and rates pavement conditions for all paved <br />roadways under the County's jurisdiction. The <br />ratings are the result of field assessments of the <br />percentage of roadway surface experiencing <br />conditions like alligator cracking, longitudinal <br />4�LIP Ye <br />