Fairbanks city streets need overhaul, report states
Published Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — Fairbanks’ crumbling streets are in major need of repair.
That is the status of the city’s roads, according to a report offered by a citizen’s review committee for the city’s Public Works and Engineering department.
Former city engineers Dick Levine and John Phillips, former Public Works Director and engineer Don Callahan, Fort Wainwright Public Works Director Michael Meeks and Councilman Chad Roberts made up the review committee.
Callahan served as public works director from 1972 to 1976 and said he was surprised at how much the department was able to accomplish. According to the committee’s report, the department is operating at an efficient level but is understaffed.
“This is a department that — over the years — we just haven’t kept up with like we should,” Councilman Jerry Cleworth said. “As the city has added employees, they always seem to go into other areas at the expense of public works.”
With an annual operating budget of $6.7 million and 34 full-time employees, Fairbanks Public Works cannot afford to take on any additional responsibilities, the report stated.
“The average age of residential streets is 31 years old, and pavements are failing,” the report stated.
The report explained that city streets are failing to a point where the department can no longer continue to patch holes.
Public Works is responsible for 343 miles of city streets — a hefty job that involves snow plowing, sanding and sweeping, maintaining 4,700 street signs, keeping 2,759 street lights lit and the seemingly endless job of patching potholes and repairing sidewalks, among others.
Director of Public Works and City Engineer Mike Schmetzer said that given their age, city streets have little life left in them.
Councilwoman Emily Bratcher, serving her first term, said she was impressed with the level of detail and effort that went into producing the report.
“I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about public works,” she said. “As I look at my own neighborhood streets, I can see that many of them simply can’t be repaired anymore. Many streets are just disintegrating.”
After torrential downpours last summer, city road crews couldn’t keep up with the increasing number of potholes given the already stretched staff. There is no staff dedicated to patching potholes, the report stated.
Staff members are needed to field a full crew for road construction projects and to set up and take down barricades for parades and other events requiring traffic control, among many other daily tasks.
“When we’re reconstructing roads, everyone we have is on that crew,” Schmetzer said. “We really could utilize a full-time patching crew. Pothole patching is done on the side when we can free up people for a temporary assignment.”
Reconstruction of a city street consists of grinding the existing asphalt, reprofiling the road and repaving.
Despite short staffing, road crews were able to increase production rates by nearly 30 percent last summer, at a cost of $3.35 per square foot of road.
City officials have asked for $13 million from the federal government for economic stimulus projects to rebuild all residential streets throughout the city. If the grant money comes in, the work will be contracted out to bring jobs to the local economy and free up time for public works employees.
Many of the recommendations from the committee were achieved with the implementation of a more efficient snow removal program and garbage pickup as well as the installation of energy-saving street lights that could save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Based on the budget, we’re not going to get more personnel this year, but we hope we’ve done the best job we could at eliminating every bit of inefficiency we could identify,” Schmetzer said.
Given its limited resources, the department does a good job, committee member Levine said. He served as city engineer from 1968-1972.
“They certainly have more area to maintain,” he said, “and the city’s sphere of responsibility has stretched out quite a bit since the old days.”
Community Discussion
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hmmmm...maybe a flippin' sales tax wouldn't hurt...every time I drive down S. Cushman I'm afraid my car is going to break an axle...I'll gladly spend an extra 3 cents on the dollar at Wal Mart to fix our roads...
ya hear that ITA? a taxpayer who'd rather have my city not look like a piece of crap Somalian slum than part with a pittance of my money.
Reading the news a few months ago about hooligans speeding and wrecking cars at 100mph on the streets of Fairbanks reminded me of the good old days when you needed to carry a long skinny pole ontop of your pickuptruck to test the depth of the mudpuddles in many of the streets in Fairbanks.
...I wish everybody would quit trying to make Fairbanks look like Los Angeles, or like any other big american stinkpot city of crawling insects.
I stopped reading this article when that Michael Meeks was listed as a contributing member of the committee.
I just drove back from 23rd avenue and
it was like driving over a wash board!
At least fix that one.
We do need the streets fixed or replaced.That goes without saying.I think alot of people will say " fix our streets" but, then as soon as construction starts get all ticked off about the construction slowly them down.Or having to pay a little to have them fixed.
Just why was it necessary to repave the Steese HWY between 3rd (Gavora Mall) and Trainer Gate this summer? Not to complain, but I don't recall seeing one pothole anywhere. It tied up traffic for 2 weeks and I never any reason to do anything to to that area of road.
How about the road behind Safeway accessing Illinois and the Old Steese? I know every pothole on that stretch....don't move em!
I do give the Public works a thumbs up, however. Good job!
Is a 2% sales tax really going to make us go broke?
Not that I want to pay more. I noticed gas prices going up (sigh). But have had a sales tax everywhere else I have lived and wouldn't be opposed to it if it helped with the streets conditions. The potholes do seem to be getting pretty bad. I have noticed having to brake alot more to make the bumps less painful.
If we start a sales tax, it will be like opening Pandora's Box!!!
.I wish everybody would quit trying to make Fairbanks look like Los Angeles, or like any other big american stinkpot city of crawling insects.
Distant Thunder, I am with you 1000% on this one!!
Good idea James, but if you think for one second that the Fire Department would even pick up a shovel full of dirt to help the City you are sadly mistaken. They are too busy watching TV and running their own businesses out of the fire hall. Plus there would be more law suits filed just for having such an idea in the first place. Public WOrks has a tough job and always seem to get the short end of the money stick. Sales tax is not the answer, that money would only go to hire more Fire and Police, Public Works would see very little of it..
Last I knew Cushman Street and the Steese Hwy were the responsibilty of the state DOT not City Public Works and the road behind Bentley Mall is a private road that I believe the Bentley Trust put in and is their responsibility.
Once the city get used to 2% sales tax they will want 3%, it is just one more percent...
Learn which streets are city and which streets the State takes care of. Steese is maintained by the State. The majority of streets most people drive on are the State's responsibility. Most of the city responsiblity are residential in nature. Cushman is maintained that way so it can be used as the one example of a street many people drive on for the exact reason everyone is talking sales tax. The borough residents have road service areas. How many city people are willing to cover the cost of borough streets. The argument well we don't drive on them. Well guess what, most of us do not drive on the streets the city takes care of. When in town most every main road is a state road.
When you start talking sales tax, remember not only the city, but the borough and State can impose one. Based on the economy how would you like to pay three layers of taxes to cover the cost of three layers of government. Remember the State alone spending would require about $15,000 per every child, man and woman. Add city and borough spending and what do you think you will be paying in sales taxes.
Wish they would just consolidate the city and borough, that seems like it would remove alot of waste to me.
We need a better system of allocating money between state and local projects. Somehow money was allocated to completely repave the access road to Chena Lakes. Not the part that was gravel, they tore up and replaced the 7 mile asphalt portion all the way to the dam. Here's $10 million to fix an access road to a recreation area but our main downtown corridors are nearly impassable.
Sales tax, come on. This money will be squandered along with the other money the city has. Prove that you are fiscally sound then come to me with the idea of a sales tax. Why are you so fixed on throwing more money at a government that is not spending wisely now. Cut spending on stupid stuff and put money where it counts.
Every source of funding should be exercised and used before they ask us another time for a sales tax.
S. Cushman is an exercise in futility guys. That road needs to be widened and the property owners have been an issue on for twenty plus years due to the frontage street property value. Then look at all those power lines that have to go somewhere, this is not a cheap road to fix and with the need and desire to do more with the road, a patch and hole fix are all that should be expected until it is redone in its entirety. I honestly believe that it would be a waste of money until then.
More fair than a sales tax to cover street repair would be a borough-wide tax that's proportional to your likely contribution to the streets' damage. For example, tying the tax to your vehicle's mass and to your vehicle-miles traveled would put the burden of street repair on those who use it and harm it the most. It would also provide an incentive (1) to drive less, (2) to use more energy-efficient methods of transportation, and (3) to create more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods connected by public transit.
I have one word - municipality.
How about taking the money from the Illinois Street project that is useless and no one wants and spend that money on all the State maintained streets in the City? Cushman Street maybe would not be such a piece of crap.
More sense than a sales tax, bed tax, breathing tax, or any other tax is a comprehensive plan which takes into account the increase in population in the city and the borough. Obviously the "planners" decided the existing infrastructure could handle a doubling of people and therefore, traffic. They were wrong. Would the gang who designed and approved the nightmare intersection at Trainor Gate and the Old Steese please stand up??
Decent planning and budgeting for the future is imperative. It's easier, cheaper, and more effective to fix the problem BEFORE it becomes a problem than to try and re-engineer an inadequate road system. Re-engineering is the equivalent of curing the symptom while the disease runs merrily along.
Face it, Fairbanks and the Borough, much to my dismay, are only going to become more crowded. We have the opportunity to deal with that now and plan for it, or we can carry on with our heads buried in the snow as we have for the last decade.
No sales tax until they can prove themselves fiscally responsible.
As for the snarky comments about the firemen? You guys will be singing a different tune if - God forbid - you ever need them. It's pretty low-rent to sit on your arse and talk smack about men and women who are willing to risk their lives for total strangers.
The reason POT was outlawed in Ak. is the feds. threatened to take away funding to fix our roads. so pot was outlawed and our roads look the same from the Hall road to Seward, so where is the funding? Maybe the feds need to do some more investigating...
P.S. I'M not a pot smoker, I'm just saying.......
1) Why is the generally agreed-upon status of Fairbanks' awful roads the headline today? IS there truly nothing else going on?
2) James and Buggar, good luck on getting over your bitterness towards public employees. I imagine it must be horrible to live your life shrouded in such pain that you have to lash out at others whose occupation exists for YOUR benefit. I hope you find peace within yourselves.
3) Let the sales tax come. I have no issues with that. (GASP! HOW CAN I BE AN ALASKAN AND BELIEVE IN A SALES TAX OR THAT IT COULD BENEFIT US? My apologies, I will crawl under my rock now...). I think the idea is a good one and that if used prudently it could be much more advantageous than previously believed.
Paul Adasiak:
"More fair than a sales tax to cover street repair would be a borough-wide tax that's proportional to your likely contribution to the streets' damage. For example, tying the tax to your vehicle's mass and to your vehicle-miles traveled would put the burden of street repair on those who use it and harm it the most. It would also provide an incentive (1) to drive less, (2) to use more energy-efficient methods of transportation, and (3) to create more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods connected by public transit."
This is a great idea!! While we are at it we should impliment this system on other city expenditures. Hmm, how about the school system? We really should tax those that have families more than single guys like myself, I mean I put no burden on the school sytem so why should I pay? Those families with 8 kids, I suggest taking an arm and a leg!
In all seriousness, you're idea sounds good in theory but really, it just plain sucks.
We already pay too much in taxes....
Now send home a fireman with a police officer under each arm.
Take that money and fix the streets.
The amount of money we spend on a fire dept, we could rebuild anything that burns down. What a waste...
Hey, the FPD is there when you need them, or when my EX really wants to fabricate some BS. (they're on to him NOW!) I'd hate to have a fire and no firemen/women.
Ya know, have you looked on a map? What's wrong with gravel roads? Keeps the speedsters at a crawl and saves gas,..kills glass-saves gas...lol.
Yeah, I thought that Chena Lakes access road looked too pretty for locals. How about $29,000 for more fireworks?????? Imagine spending a combined $50,000 on fireworks,...and to China even. What a plan.
I have been reading about cities in the Lower 48 using modern technology to monitor road use, and charge fees accordingly. Works similar to the drive pass on toll roads and bridges, only now the transportation departments can pinpoint it down to charging for fast lane usage and time of day usage. It's being used to lessen rush hour traffic and to determine which roads should be prioritized for road repair, or even where new roads are needed, and to get rid of the fuel tax system that is regressive and doesn't work.
Impractical for our little town for now, but it is the future.
Obama wants to spend money on infrastructure.
You got to be kidding!
The city just blew the pot hole money to hire 3 firemen because Uncle Sugar gave then $300,000!
Do any of you sales tax fans think pot holes come before union contracts and 95,000 dollar per firemen?
I knew I should a become a fireman
PS the pot holes might get fixed if they stopped grading 2" of snow off selective streets.
I have been around Fairbanks for many, many years. There are streets that have NOT been maintained in more than 30 years.
There was a pot hole at 3 Rd St and Old Steese. It had been there since before the pipe line! It was fixed after 30 years of complaints!
Go back to Gravel Roads and Bigger Tires.
modern gravel roads can use a sublayer of road fabric made of polymers and carbon-fiber
polypipe-perf drainage can be used under the roadbeds
if the concrete is dissolving in the arctic climate it shouldn't be a surprise, despite boastful cement-wizards who sell fancy concrete recipes, the science of concrete-tech always has room to improve
downtown city streets in some northern cities of the world utilize concrete paving stones of geometric design..
each stone has a keyhole to allow a lifting tool to let two guys hoist the stone for leveling with sand
there's plenty of good info available on arctic cement-tech, ask yourselves if you know the pedigree of the cement you're repairing, then do the repairs with the best recipe available today
baking cookies with concrete likes out-of-the-box ideas..
you might find that a cellulose additive works well in Fairbanks, but it won't work in Anchorage
Hey folks, don't rag on the firefighers/EMTs. They are doing a job the rest of us would run away from. If it was your house, with your kids inside, you'd be singing a different tune. I went through Firefighter 101 AND Emt training 'cause there was no response available where I lived.
Suck it up folks...this is Alaska.
MrsS
I grew up here and like living here. Most of my friends and family have left and have no desire to come back. Whenever I talk to them about Fairbanks they ask how can you continue to live in that town? As a community, we continue to make short sided decisions that cause long term problems. Most of which are made because a very small but very vocal minority scream everytime someone wants to drag Fairbanks into the 21st century. It is called time and it moves forward for everyone. We can not continue to turn our back on economic opportunties because we don't want to be another Anchorage. As Dylan said "You had better start swiming or you will sink like a stone."
the entire south cushman area's roads just look like there's nothing left of them. and in many other parts of town last summer one could plainly see the lack of any sort of reasonable drainage strategy. so the water just sits there and the sidewalks and streets disintegrate. it's rather a constant reminder of a climate of disinvestment and deferred maintenance, to say the least about it.
caligula24,
Sounds like you are driving a bit faster than the road conditions allow for. Try slowing down or try using another road to reach south Fairbanks.
Since you are willing to pay a tax for "better roads", why don't you pay my share too. After all, it would just be 6 cents at your Wal-Mart.
The City has spoken !
The city only has X-amount of dollars of your Tax money to work with. And the City managers has dedicated that money to hiring some NEW Firefighters (possibly to help Eat the donuts) instead of Fixing the streets downtown! Some of them pot-holes are so large, they could be “Stocked with Trout! Maybe we could just leave the pot-holes and change the name of the streets. Names like
Rainbow Ave.
Burbot Street, AK.
Grayling Ave.
And halibut-Hole, AK.
Or we could start putting up a picture of our city managers by each big pot-hole and how much of Your Tax money that manager gets paid each year!
TheGrudge: "While we are at it we should impliment this system on other city expenditures. Hmm, how about the school system? We really should tax those that have families more than single guys like myself, I mean I put no burden on the school system so why should I pay?"
It's generally acknowledged that educating the young -- even when they're not your young -- is a social good: that is, society as a whole benefits when our young are schooled. (Whether this is true or not, and all the failings of our school system, are different topics that we can avoid for now.) I may not like the fact that you've had eight or twelve children, but I'd rather they were better educated, since they'll be running our society someday. That's why everyone pays for it. That's the way it should be.
Automotive corridors, on the other hand, benefit individual drivers almost entirely. (Exceptions include ambulances and delivery trucks, which serve a social good.) Most streets and roads in the Borough are (sadly) not built for pedestrians or cyclists, but for the needs of motorists. They are a government subsidy to those who want private transportation.
A safe, comfortable, convenient public transit system that served everybody equally -- everybody with the sense to live near one of its stops -- would be a social good, worthy of public investment. On the other hand, maintaining roads so that we motorists can live as far from each other as we like is mostly a private good. What little public support it deserves should come proportionally more from those who use it the most.
Ulises, you're a muppet.
I know what the real problem is! it's those limey firefighters driving their big, heavy, asphalt destroying trucks over our city streets all day and night going back and forth to calls. I say they replace those big engines with Dodge Neons loaded down with extinguishers and band-aids, fire everybody except one person to drive the Neons to calls and then the homeowner or patient can put the fire out themselves, or patch themselves up after a motor vehicle accident, heck they can even hitch a free ride to the hospital in the Neon (shotgun!). That'll teach those worthless scumbags to steal my money, when their beggin' for handouts in front of Fred Meyer's!
We get what we pay for. The sales tax supporters tie the cities hands by capping the mill rate at 4.9 for all city services. The anti-sales tax people defeat the last sales tax initiative. Evertime the council tries to get creative hoards of non-reisdents show up to testify against it. Every citizen review committee said things were efficient and lean...most areas understaffed. Those of you bashing the fire/police/ambulance and public employees are making unsubstantiated comments...speculation and opinion- no facts. Bugger and James never contribute with anyting constructive- they spew hatred as this is the only forum anyone will listen. Plus they can hide in their little computer world and be annonimous- not having to take responsibility for anything they say.
The firemen added are needed- I have friends in that department. I know first hand how busy they are. The Police also need more. Public works needs help. We need a long term, responable spending plan to meet our infastructure needs and provide a safe, stable community. Fairbanks has grown..and will grow (despite Cleworths- and now Stivers-attempts to stiffle our community). Things have changed and will continue to change...it is the life cycle of a city. If you don't want to be part of it look to move further out in the boonies where it can be as it was 50 years ago and you have no services.
i am against the borrough sales tax to help the city. that is why i moved out of the city about 15 years ago. they could not investigate or solve murders or serious crimes nor could they fix the city streets. cushman has been a string of potholes since i moved here in the early 80's. if the city was doing anything for the buisnesses why do you think a lot of them are fleeing the city. little fred meyer, nc cat and a bunch more i just wish the hospital was outside the city then i would not have to drive down any city streets. with the ice fog and polution i think before long the city and feds will outlaw wood stoves so the only thing to do is move outside the city. for city taxes you get city police instead of alaska troopers volunteer fire departments who are your neighbors against city fire fighters so no contest. move outside the city and leave it to the same old buisness's that jabbed it to us until the large box stores moved in.
Now the state is wanting to add BIKE lanes to south Cushman, nothing more for cars. I can understand why property owners would not want to give up land for that. We sure need the drunks riding their bicycles on Cushman.
The city and mayor in particular have no ability to spend money wisely so they do not deserve more. Many of the fans of a sales tax are also the same people who will just turn to mail order and internet and avoid it all together. Businesses in the People's Republic of North Pole can't compete with Fairbanks because of their sales tax. Look at the North Pole plaza for instance. And while you are looking see how North Pole blows the income.
All I can add is DON'T move those potholes, cause I got em all mapped to dodge every time I drive!
I have to ask, however, if the "privately" maintained road behind safeway is private,...why to they have a DOT street light directing one to access it?
The reason this city (and the federal government) spend so much money is that WE give it to them.
No More Taxes!!!
Save your money for vehicle modifications. Like tires and shocks.
The city needs to hire competent people to budget the money we already gave them. I'm not gonna give them more money to do nothing.
Do fire fighters really make twice as much as my wife and I do combined? Wow... and we serve the public full time. Damn my guidance counselor.
Maybe if we ask Don Young to sell some property/assets we can replace all the streets.
Anybody notice how nice Wasilla's roads looked after they set the sales tax?....
Just saying....
alaskan man...
no firefighters DO NOT make that much money, in fact its less than half of the figure that's been thrown around...go figure someone on here lied to make them look bad, who'd a thunk it?
youmustbeondrugs:
the reason there's no large retail presence in NP is because there's not the population to support it (1700 people to Fbx 35,000)!!!! You may blame that on the sale taxes too, but it probably has something more to do with the fact that NP is 15 miles away from the main population/commercial center (Fairbanks) where all the jobs are, and that when its -40F in FBX, its -55F in NP...oh that and the city is a hole.
Pot holes in this town do not come before union contracts!
Why should the city fix pot holes, when the people who want the pot holes fix elect people who are committed to fatten the union contracts?
Cause and effect! You all we told what would happen during the last election. So stop your complaining!
My grandmother used to say, burn your butt now sit on the blister!
Yes, "Union city union members do live better" because we voted to let them live off of us!
If gas returns to $4 per gal. we'll probably be walking anyway.
Why worry?
if im walking id hate to step in to a pot hole and break an ankle :P
i would still be happy if we could at least get some more dedicated right turn lanes around town
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