City of Pleasant Hill 2022/2023 Street Resurfacing Project

 

Location

Contra Costa Boulevard, Taylor Boulevard

City or County Responsible for Project

City of Pleasant

Category

Roads: Efficient and Sustainable Road Maintenance, Construction and Reconstruction Projects.

Description

The City of Pleasant Hill, working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s P-Tap grant program, evaluates the condition of each street in the City every two to three years to determine their overall condition, or their Pavement Condition Index (PCI). We use this information, in part, to help identify the City’s pavement resurfacing schedule. The City last completed this street survey in the summer of fall of 2022 and each street was ranked on a scale from 1 (worst) to 100 (new road). The City has identified 24 residential zones in the City. Each residential street within a defined neighborhood has an identified PCI value and contributes to the average score of the streets within a Residential Zone. Each Residential Zone is then compared and prioritized against the other 23 Residential Zones in the City.

The City’s pavement maintenance strategy for residential street zones is the “worst first” approach. This strategy is to perform one pavement treatment on all the residential streets within a Residential Zone, to maximize the “economy of scale” pricing that the City receives from Contractor’s public bids for the work. We typically do not provide a surface treatment for one individual residential street. In past years, the City typically rehabilitated or resurfaced one complete residential zone every two years, however, in 2017, our voters passed a ½ cent sales tax, a portion of which is annually allocated to residential street resurfacing. These sales tax funds, along with gas tax and SB1 funds, we are able to complete two residential neighborhoods per paving cycle, more than doubling our paving efforts.

The City of Pleasant Hill’s 2022/2023 Street Resurfacing Project provided a resurfacing treatment on 57 residential streets in three neighborhoods, and two collector streets, for a total construction cost of $5.5 million. The City hired a design consultant to take core samples, perform deflection testing and ground penetrating radar and provide an appropriate design for the three neighborhoods and the two arterial/collector streets. The project was competitively bid and awarded to MCK Paving, Inc. by our City Council in September 2022.
The project was divided into two phases. Phase I consisted of preparing the streets by repairing pavement failures, crack sealing, installing new ADA curb ramps and limited concrete curb, gutter and sidewalk repairs. Once this work was completed, the contractor moved forward with Phase II, which provided a final pavement resurface treatment on project streets: Option 1: 5 ½” Cold-in-Place Recycling followed by a 2” Hot Mix Asphalt Overlay on the two collector streets, Chilpancingo Parkway (Contra Costa Boulevard to the City Limits) and Grayson Road (Taylor Boulevard to Reliz Valley Road) or Option 2: Wedge grind followed by a 2” Hot Mix Asphalt Overlay on the residential streets. The surface treatment on every project street was then followed by new thermoplastic striping per the City’s draft Master Pedestrian and Bike Plan. City staff coordinated with neighboring agencies (Concord, Martinez, Lafayette and Contra Costa County) and our utility partners to complete the project scope.
Project highlights included:
• 29,525 SY of Full Depth Reclamation (recycled asphalt) on two arterial/collector streets
• 19,975 tons of Hot Mix Asphalt overlay on 57 residential and two arterial/collector streets
• 14 ADA compliant curb ramps
• Updated/refreshed thermoplastic pavement markings, reflectors, striping and signage on 10.36 miles of residential and collector streets
• Re-established 38 iron pipe survey monuments
• Adjusted 198 Central Contra Costa County Sanitary District (CCCSD) facilities
• Adjusted 143 Contra Costa Water District CCWD) water valves
• Adjusted 101 East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) water valves
• Adjusted 36 Diablo Vista Water System water valves

Arterial/Collectors
One goal of our City Council is that all segments of our arterials/collectors have a PCI of 70 or better. The results of the 2022 P-Tap 23 indicated that Chilpancingo Parkway (Contra Costa Boulevard to the Martinez City limits) and Grayson Road (Taylor Boulevard to Reliz Valley Road) had fallen below the mandated goal, and required a resurfacing treatment. City staff notified EBMUD and CCWD of our upcoming project to ensure there were no utility conflicts, and with their approval, performed the utility adjustments on their behalf, saving them resources and funding. In addition, staff coordinated with Contra Costa County Maintenance Division staff to resurface the section of Chilpancingo Parkway (Ironwood to the Martinez City limit) that is in the county limits, as part of the City project. This allowed the County to save staff resources and paving funds by taking advantage of the economy of scale pricing the City received for their overall project.
Chilpancingo Parkway is a regionally significant road that serves the residents of Pleasant Hill, Concord, Martinez, as well as unincorporated areas. It stretches from I-680 west and connects Pleasant Hill, Concord, Martinez and the unincorporated county. It is one of the major travel corridors for the City. Chilpancingo Parkway provides connectivity to schools, employment centers, civic centers, recreation facilities, and other modes of transportation (such as County Connection bus stops).
Grayson Road serves the residents of Pleasant Hill, Lafayette, Martinez, and the unincorporated county. It stretches from Taylor Boulevard west and provides connectivity to schools, employment centers, civic centers, recreation facilities, and other modes of transportation (such as County Connection bus stops)
Chilpancingo Parkway and Grayson Road were both in need of pavement rehabilitation due to their deteriorated condition over the years. Based on the existing pavement condition, a pavement rehabilitation of 5 1/2” cold-in place-recycle, and 2” Hot Mix Asphalt overlay was implemented to provide an improved smooth traveling surfaces for all users, motorists and bicyclists. The rehabilitated pavement surfaces are more inviting for the bicyclists. Motorists will also benefit as better maintained pavement surface will reduce maintenance costs and allow the vehicles to travel through this corridor more efficiently.
Residential
Staff used the current P-Tap data to determine the next three residential neighborhoods to be selected for a resurfacing treatment were Residential Zone (RZ) 7, 17, and 20. All utilities were notified prior to going out to bid for the project, to ensure there were no utility conflicts. A review of CCWD and Diablo Vista Water System base maps indicated that the water mains in Z7 and RZ20 were shallow, and a 5 ½” cold-in-place recycling project could potentially compromise their infrastructure. Working with CCWD, the overall design for the residential streets was amended to base failure repair, crack sealing, wedge grind and an overlay. This treatment will provide a 15 to 20 year roadway life and provide an improved smooth traveling surfaces for all users, motorists and bicyclists. These rehabilitated pavement surfaces are more inviting for the bicyclists, with the motorists also benefitting as better maintained pavement surfaces will reduce maintenance costs and allow the vehicles to travel through this corridor more efficiently. Staff conducted an infrastructure review of water mains in RZ17 with EBMUD, and they had not issue with the proposed treatment as their mains are sufficiently deep to not be affected.
Greenhouse Gas
On each street resurfacing project, staff coordinates with the City’s Transportation Manager to determine which needed bike and pedestrian improvements should be incorporated into the project scope. The City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan indicates that Pleasant Hill has a transit commute rate higher than the county and more than double that of the State, which indicates opportunity to support walking and bicycling as the first/last mile to transit. Input from our biking community indicates that providing a smoother travelling surface for bicyclists will encourage more transit usage. This in turn will then reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to single occupant vehicles. In addition, a report by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (Synthesis 421) indicates that cold-in-place recycling reduces greenhouse gases between 50% to 85%.
As more individuals switch modes from motorized vehicles to bicycles or walking, greenhouse gases would also be reduced. With the reduction in the number of motorized vehicles, all project streets will have less congestion, further reducing greenhouse gases as less cars would be sitting in traffic.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Needs
City staff recognized that the 2022/2023 Street Resurfacing Project also presented an opportunity to implement several projects from the our Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. With staff coordinating across several divisions, as well as with our Traffic Safety Commission, several new bicycle facilities were put on the ground. For the project residential streets with low traffic volumes and low traffic speeds, neighborhood bikeways with sharrows and wayfinding signs directing bicyclists to parks, trails, schools, and the Pleasant Hill Library were installed. On Chilpancingo Parkway and Grayson Road, we took advantage of the blank slate left by the resurfacing to narrow vehicle lanes and add buffers between vehicles and bikes. This provides the benefit of both slowing down drivers and giving people on bikes extra separation from traffic. This aligns with the City’s goals of increasing comfort and safety for all travelers, and especially those traveling by foot and by bike. These changes are intended to not only make existing riders more comfortable, but also attract new riders that may have felt unsafe using the existing bike lanes.
Sharing Date across Agencies
The 2022/2023 Street Resurfacing Project was a successful project for the City, meeting many City Council goals for paving, emission reduction and bike and ped needs. Many motorists who live in Martinez, Concord, Lafayette or the County pass through Pleasant Hill on their way home on either Chilpancingo Parkway or Grayson Road. Their enjoyment of the new paving surface, as well as the bike and ped upgrades encouraged their City staff to coordinate with Pleasant Hill staff on our paving program, specifications, inspection and testing, providing an opportunity for staff to share data and ideas with colleagues in outside agencies.