What does Lexington do to upkeep city roads after they’re paved or repaired? We asked
The city of Lexington maintains about 2,355 miles of city-owned roads, according to its website. But readers wondered, once a road is paved, what processes are in place to maintain it as the years go by?
Lexington commissioner of environmental quality and public works Nancy Albright said the city is always using feedback from the public to decide what roads get paved, need to be serviced and more.
Here’s what to know about road paving in Lexington and how you can let the city know what you think.
What Lexington does to maintain paved roads
All city-owned roads are routinely serviced every three years, on top of any fixes for issues as they come up.
The city also utilizes a preventative maintenance program to keep roads well-maintained, which has had positive results, according to Albright.
Through this program, the city applies crack sealing and pavement rejuvenation at regular intervals after new pavement is put down. She said this maintenance keeps roads in a better condition for longer.
“A lot of time people will see us performing a treatment on a road that’s only three, five, eight years old and they’ll wonder what in the world we’re doing,” Albright said. “And the answer is ... that the preventive maintenance can extend the life of that pavement, staying in good condition for a much longer time. So we’ve been doing that in Lexington for about seven or eight years now, so I do feel like we’re seeing a lot of the fruits of that start to emerge.”
According to the city’s website, high-traffic roads usually take up more than half of the city’s paving budget for the fiscal year. Neighborhood streets usually receive about 42% of the budget, with the money being split among the council districts.
The city has $15 million budgeted for paving this fiscal year, according to officials. Last year, that figure was roughly the same at about $14.9 million.
How to report pavement issues
If you’re driving down a Lexington road and notice any immediate pavement problems, like potholes, cracked pavement and more, the best thing to do is to call the 311 number.
“For an immediate issue, like potholes or something like that, frequently, those come in from there. It generates a list of work orders, and then their goal is to respond to potholes within two business days,” Albright said.
If it’s a problem that doesn’t need immediate attention, you can also call your city council member, who the city works with frequently to keep up with roads.
“A lot of times, especially on a neighborhood street, our council members are very actively involved in addressing those specific concerns,” Albright said.
All city roads are surveyed every three years to identify which are used often.
“It helps us make those decisions, kind of objectively, on how much a road is cracked, and we also compare that with the complaints and the concerns we’re getting from the community to help make those decisions,” Albright said.
How to request a road to be paved
If you’re driving down an unpaved road that you believe needs to be paved and want someone to know about it, Albright said again, the best thing to do is contact your city council member.
“They are very engaged in helping us decide,” Albright said.
The commissioner said council member input, along with a collection of data, emails and complaints, are all combined together help the city choose.
Check out the interactive graphic below from Lexington’s website which shows what roads in Lexington are owned by the city and what are owned by the state.
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