On Monday, Nov. 17, the El Paso City Council will discuss a transportation user fee to provide dedicated funding to street maintenance. While a new fee may sound like a bad thing, it could save taxpayers millions in the long run and finally deliver on past promises to improve the condition of our streets.
El Pasoans are frustrated with the condition of our streets, and understandably so. Only about one in five residents say they are satisfied with street maintenance, far below state and national averages. That frustration is rooted in a simple fact — our street network is aging faster than we can keep up with.
The city maintains more than 6,100 streets with over 2,400 centerline miles, representing a $3.6 billion public asset. Today, roughly half of that network is rated fair, poor or very poor. More than 344 miles fall below a pavement condition index of 40 out of 100, and 52 miles are in such severe condition that they require full reconstruction, which today costs about $14 million per mile.
These are a lot of statistics, but anyone who drives in this city already feels these numbers in their suspension…