Earlier this spring the City of Columbus announced that it will spend $31 million for resurfacing of roadways. This is the largest pavement rehabilitation project in the history of the City.
In addition, Columbus plans to expand its network of bike trails and bike lanes, and add sidewalks to many city streets.
Sidewalks and bike trails are desirable features for many residents who like to go for a walk or ride their bike without having to use a car. These investments will benefit home owners in nearby neighborhoods, as the values of Columbus homes along bike trails will certainly go up.
“We are investing in street resurfacing, sidewalks, bikeways and alleys that will improve safety and the quality of life for people across Columbus.” Mayor Coleman
The resurfacing project is in addition to the City’s usual spring maintenance activities, such as filling potholes. We reported earlier that Columbus fixed more than 12,000 potholdes in the past 2 weeks.
The pothole repair project did not cost the City a lot of extra money. They redirected their own crews for labor and only had to purchase materials (asphalt mix at a total cost of $320,000).
The resurfacing project, however, is a major capital expense. Here are the stats:
- 198 lane miles of City streets will be resurfaced at a cost of $31 million
- 7.3 miles of sidewalk will be added to Columbus streets costing $6 million
- 13 miles of new bike trails will be constructed at a cost of $6.4 million
Columbus has surveyed roadway conditions on a regular basis over the past 10 years. Their pavement management system certainly came in handy, when they planned the allocation of funds to different street sections (see picture at the beginning of this post).
Now let’s take a closer look at the costs of these 3 projects. We would like to find out how they stacks up to pavement maintenance costs in other Cities. So, please give us your feedback and leave a comment at the end of this article!
The cost of resurfacing one lane mile comes to $156,565. Let’s assume the average lane width is 12 ft. This means that the cost per sqft is $2.47.
One mile of sidewalk costs $821,918 and a mile of bike trail costs $492,308. It appears that the cost of installing a sidewalk is twice as expensive as installing a bike trail. Sidewalks are usually 6 ft wide. This means that sidewalks cost $25.94 per sqft, and bike trails (8 ft wide) are $11.66 per sqft.
Do you agree with these numbers?
Did Columbus get a good deal or are these costs too expense?
We’d like to hear your opinion! Please leave a comment below!
