NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Public Works Department has more than $150 million of road construction in progress and expects to complete $80 million worth of projects in its capital program by year's end.
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune’s Greg LaRose reports that doesn't include $7.5 million the city will spend on maintenance work, which includes filling potholes and repairing spots where drainage work is performed.
These numbers were in a presentation Public Works director Mark Jernigan made Tuesday to the City Council's Public Works, Sanitation and Environmental Committee. Nearly all the projects in his overview are being paid for with federal dollars, much of it tied to Hurricane Katrina recovery grants. The question of how to finance future street construction and repairs in New Orleans once this money runs out was raised indirectly during the meeting.
Councilwoman Stacy Head asked Jernigan for an update on the city's ongoing pavement condition assessment. The report on the state of all city streets, large and small, has been months in the making. Jernigan said they have finished collecting field data, and the information is now being analyzed. A final report should be ready for the council by end of November, he said.
Head said its findings will help the council prioritize infrastructure work as its members flesh out the city budget — and perhaps lend credence to city bond issuance to pay for more capital projects and repairs.
Jernigan said the report will provide a "engineering, scientific-based assessment of each block of the city," determining whether it is in excellent, good, fair, poor or very poor condition. Based on street conditions, the report will make recommendations on what needs to be done to maintain, repair or reconstruct a street.
"It's going to be a roadmap … for what we do going forward," Head told Jernigan. "It's also going to allow us to make better decisions about putting money toward your budget."
She said the city can continue to spend on so-called "pothole killer" trucks and street repair crews, but that the city needs to start making "good decisions" about capital improvements.
Head said she hoped to see an allocation in the 2016 budget dedicated to a bond issuance to start "chipping away" at the minor street repair backlog that the condition analysis identifies.
