Photo by Sarah Finnegan
Sunset Drive is one of several roads in Vestavia that is listed as a priority road for repaving.
While some work has been done on a 2016 project to resurface about 30 miles of city roads in “fair to poor” condition, the majority of the work is still unfinished as Vestavia Hills works to secure funding, City Manager Jeff Downes said.
With 23 miles left to be paved on the project, Downes said the city must find new ways to fund the work, as the city’s reliance on portions of a gas tax dedicated to repaving isn’t producing enough money. The fund is producing roughly $300,000 a year, Downes said.
“We recognize that $300,000 a year for resurfacing is not adequate to be able to keep up with the number of miles of roadways that need to be paved,” Downes said.
Because of that, Downes said the city will soon invest more money from its bonds to pay for the road work.
“As a part of our bond issue that will be capitalized very soon, we intend to invest $2.2 million within the next six months to get caught up on that backlog of 30 miles of roads,” Downes said. “In addition to the$2.2 million of bond funds, we have that roughly $300,000 of gas funds … to equate to roughly $2.5 million within the next six months to be spent on paving roads.”
In addition to the financial challenge presented by the project, Downes said the city also has to schedule work around other activities taking place on some of the roads, such as gas line repairs currently taking place on Shades Crest Road. The city has several roads that are maintained in conjunction with other entities, which complicates the maintenance work.
Multi-jurisdictional road work, as enumerated in a 2016 list, includes repaving portions of: Acton Drive, Acton Place, Alta Vista Drive, Alta Vista Circle, Fairhaven Drive, Linbard Lane, Montreat Drive and Montreat Parkway (possible partnering with property owner for other areas of repaving), Old Looney Mill, Skyland Drive, Tyler Road, Valley Circle and Wisteria Drive.
Work that must be coordinated with other projects includes: Chestnut Road (Alagasco project), Jacobs Road (Steelemont project), Massey Road (sidewalk project), Southwood Road, east of U.S. 31 (Alagasco project), Sunset Drive (Alagasco project) and Wisteria Drive (Southbend project).
Downes said that 2016 list is constantly being evaluated and updated, and it is not set in stone.
The seven miles of road work already completed includes Blue Lake Drive, portions of Crosshaven Drive, portions of Montreat Drive, Montreat Parkway, portions of Columbiana Road, Tyler Road and several residential roads in the Cahaba Heights area, Downes said.
Priority work includes completing the Montreat Drive area, Jacobs Road, the eastern part of Southwood Road, Sunset Drive and the Hickory Road area, Downes said. While Shades Crest road is in “great need,” Downes said the city must wait on the gas line project to be completed. Likewise, Downes said Poe Drive and Fairhaven Drive in the Cahaba Heights area also need to be completed, but those projects must be coordinated with existing utility projects.
City Engineer Christopher Brady said most residential roads have a lifespan of 30 years, while more heavily-traveled roads last about 10 years. Each road, he said, is analyzed every two years.
The city is still playing catch up after the annexation of the Cahaba Heights area, as well as experiencing growth in recent years, Brady said.
Looking Toward the Future
After the three-year project is completed, Downes said the city will look to stay on top of road work in order to avoid road deterioration like they have had previously.
“How are we going to keep up once we reach this baseline?” Downes said.
In order to do that, the city is hoping to pave every road, on average, every 20 years, with some roads needing more or less attention depending on a variety of factors, Downes said. That equates to the city paving seven or eight roads per year, at an estimated annual cost of about $850,000 a year, Downes said.
That means using more than just gas tax income in the coming years, Downes said. In the budget for fiscal year 2019, Downes presented a yearly increase for three years to fund an additional $555,000 per year to take care of the city’s roads. After $2.5 million is spent in fiscal year 2019 on “catch-up work,” the proposed budget calls for the city to spend an additional $184,000 in 2019; $368,000 in 2020 and $552,000 in 2021 to maintain the road system. While the city won’t be able to pave the desired seven miles immediately, the increased spending should help the city meet that mark by 2021.
Downes said the cost of the project hasn’t changed dramatically, and though it’s been “a little slower” than anticipated, the three-year timeline is still on track, as road work is expected to begin by early 2019.
As work begins, Downes said the city will communicate with the public through the media, social media and the city’s website to alert them of any important information.
“We call for patience [from drivers] because as much as people want to have these streets repaved, they don’t want to be affected by it,” Downes said.
