WAUPUN — The Waupun Board of Public Works met Tuesday afternoon to discuss road inspections in the city, including an explanation of how the Department of Public Works prioritizes maintenance on what roads need them the most.
At the meeting the Board passed a 5-Year Street Plan which received a number of grants to cover road maintenance, but how does the City determine which roads require the most immediate maintenance?
Jeff Daane is the Director of Public Works at the City of Waupun and gave a presentation to the Board about pavement grading, causes for road damage, and consistent maintenance.
The City of Waupun rates streets biannually and reports the results to the Wisconsin DOT. According to the rating system, ratings of 10 are recently paved roads with perfect conditions, while ratings of a 1 are the lowest and would require complete reconstruction.
The only three roads given the lowest score of 1 were Wilcox St, Sawyer St, and Monroe St. These were followed by roads with a rating of 2 including Grandview Ave, N State St, Reinhardt St, and W Jefferson St. A full list of roads with conditions rated 1-6 were included in the meeting agenda packet.
Roads with a pavement grade of 7 to 10 were considered in good condition, and will not require any immediate repairs to maintain. Daane explained that most roads with a grade of 7 or higher generally stay in good condition unless they become neglected.
Causes for pavement damage can come from a variety of sources but the primary concern discussed was ice wedging. Ice wedging is a form of erosion which occurs when water gets into cracks in the pavement and freezes, which expands, pushing pieces apart. This can cause small cracks to grow into massive fractures in the road if unmaintained.
The conclusion of the presentation emphasized that if roads are not consistently maintained, they become exponentially worse until they become a total loss.
Following the presentation on road grading the Board discussed budgeting for road maintenance. According to the City, road construction costs have risen considerably along with higher interest rates, making it more difficult to keep up pace for road work.
With the budget tightening for several years made the City look into alternative methods of funding, including the controversial Transportation Utility Fee which was considered early last year but eventually scrapped. Waupun got lucky with dropping the plan as just last month the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the TUF as breaking municipal levy limits.
Also discussed at the meeting was the recent proposition from Fond du Lac County for the transfer of jurisdiction over about half a mile of Savage Road to the City of Waupun. The section of road currently serves as County MM between Edgewood Drive and County MMM. The road would then be managed by the City for repairs and upgrades, including if the City was to expand the sewer system.
However the Waupun Board of Public Works decided to hold off on assuming jurisdiction over the road for the time being, as it will require repairs in the near future. If the County repairs the road then the City is likely to accept jurisdiction.
It is currently unknown when the land along Savage Road will be developed. While it might be some time, there are land use plans for developing that area north of the city into new neighborhoods should it become viable.
