A new strategy is being used in Lexington to determine which roads need to be resurfaced, and which need repairs. City officials say the more precise information is worth the almost $400,000 cost.
Two digital survey vehicles complete with flashing lights, lasers, and cameras measure the surface condition of road pavement on all 4,000 plus streets in Lexington. Previously, summer interns were used to visually inspect roads to help determine the timing of repaving work. Council member Bill Farmer says this process is likely to please more citizens. "It will make more people happy because we'll make more roadway more usable for less money consistently, if we're consistent with this, and I think we will be," said Farmer.
The trucks move with traffic flow, taking pictures every twenty feet. Council member Amanda Mays-Bledsoe says the new technology should help assure fairness in the process. "Government needs to be transparent as much as possible and people don't trust the process or maybe how it's being done, the scoring," she said. "Then it's hard to have confidence in the results."
Lasers on the vehicles can measure the change in the road surface within one-thousandth of an inch, about the thickness of a sheet of paper. Mayor Jim Gray says the information gathered may show that repaving is not always the answer. A full report is expected by the fall, when road work will kick into high gear before the highly anticipated Breeders Cup is held at Keeneland.
