2018-165 Transportation Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 MAINTAINING OUR SYSTEM The capital plan {Chapter 6) of this element presents the future transportation infrastructure investments that are recommended to achieve the County's mobility goals. However, the vast majority of the County's future transportation system is already on the ground today and needs to be operated, maintained, and preserved over the life of this plan. The critical importance of adequately funding ongoing programmatic expenditures is emphasized in Goal 5 of this plan: Sustainably Funded and Maintains What We Have. This chapter discusses conditions and trends in programmatic expenditures related to the County's existing roads and bridges . 4,.1 EXISTING SYSTEM The County road inventory consists of a total of 562 miles of roads and 268 county-owned bridges. This inventory does not include State Routes or city streets, which are maintained and operated by the State and city agencies, respectively. Rural roads form the majority of the system {539 miles). A total of 64 miles of county roadways were unpaved in 2017. To keep this system functioning, the County makes the following types of investments, which are described in further detail below: • Maintenance. Routine and ongoing activities to ensure facility utility, e.g. pothole repair and snow and ice control. • Preservation. More substantive improvements to extend the useful life of assets, like pavement repair and chip seals. • Administration and Operations. Public works transportation administration and support; engineering and planning services that support transportation projects. • Other Roadway Operations. Roadway elements, buildings and maintenance facilities that support the transportation program. • Construction. Roadway improvements, safety and preservation projects, and parks and recreation construction. I MAINTENANCE The County performs regular maintenance on its roadway system. Maintenance is considered a routine activity associated with repairing a physical asset or keeping the physical asset functional during its useful life. The major maintenance activities conducted by the county include: • Pavement crack sealing and pothole repair • Gravel road maintenance • Shoulder maintenance • Roadside maintenance • Road storm drainage facility maintenance • Bridge/Culvert repair and maintenance • Guardrail repair and maintenance • Signing and striping I PRESERVATION Preservation is the replacement or repair of an asset to keep it in service at its lowest life cycle cost. Examples of preservation are replacing a bridge or repaving a roadway. There is a strong relationship between maintenance and preservation, in that if the County's roadways are well maintained, it will maximize their useful life and minimize the cost of keeping the roadways functional when it comes time to repair/replace them. The following activities are examples of preservation: • Pavement repair followed by o Chip Sealing o Hot Mix Asphalt overlay • Bridge rehabilitation/replacement To monitor pavement maintenance and preservation needs, Kittitas County maintains a Pavement Management {PM) program that regularly collects data and rates pavement conditions for all paved roadways under the County's jurisdiction . The ratings are the result of field assessments of the percentage of roadway surface experiencing conditions like alligator cracking, longitudinal 41 IP age