Lexington city leaders have made decisions on ways to split up $10 million for street repaving. There are both short and long term objectives.
In years past, money for repaving had been split equally among 12 council districts. Now, it’s proportionally divided, based on needs.
A paving consultant told council members the city should spend almost three times more money per year to move forward. Council Member Bill Farmer says new strategies could be considered next year. “In the spring or the next budget year, we can look at different types of treatments on roads that we haven’t used before that couldn’t be done this fall,” said Farmer.
Streets and Roads Director Albert Miller says one option is micro-paving where a thin overlay is put down to extend pavement life.
Council members voted to move forward with fall paving. A paving consultant gave a presentation in which he suggested the city spend $28 million each year over the next three years for road work. A cost benefit analysis of each street targeted for work is expected Wednesday.
Council member Angela Evans says it seems like the beginning of a bigger discussion. “Maybe we do need to look at how we budget for roads and doing something differently and doing more of a long term plan. I think that’s maybe the biggest thing that came out of this,” said Evans.
For now, paving crews are expected to proceed with milling and paving this fall in and around many subdivisions.?
