Mountain View, CA
Home MenuRoadway Pavement
Pavement Management Program
Planned Pavement ProjectsA map of the planned pavement projects through 2026 is available here. Active transportation and traffic safety improvements may be integrated into the pavement maintenance projects where feasible and as funding permits. These additional improvements may include installation of green bike lanes, high visibility crosswalks, or American with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb ramps. |
Pavement Condition Index
The City of Mountain View coordinates with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to evaluate the overall condition of the City’s street network and develop a rehabilitation and maintenance strategy that will improve the overall condition of the street network. The City’s street network is evaluated biennially by an MTC-assigned consultant who provides a Pavement Management Program (PMP) report with a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating.
PCI is a measurement of pavement condition that ranges from 0 to 100. A newly reconstructed or overlaid street would have a PCI of 100, while a poor/failed roadway would have a PCI of less than 49 (see Table 1).
Category | Details |
---|---|
Very Good - Excellent PCI = 80-100 |
Newly constructed or resurfaced pavement with few signs of distress. |
Good PCI = 70-79 |
Pavement requiring mostly preventive maintenance and showing only low levels of distress. |
Fair PCI = 60-69 |
Pavement at the low end of this range is significantly distressed and may require a combination of rehabilitation and preventive maintenance. |
At Risk PCI = 50-59 |
Deteriorated pavement requiring immediate attention, including rehabilitative work. |
Poor PCI = 25-49 |
Pavement showing extensive distress and requiring major rehabilitation or reconstruction. |
Failed PCI = 24 |
Extremely rough pavement that needs complete reconstruction. |
The City's street network is 140 centerline miles in length and covers approximately 31 million square feet of pavement. This network is an essential asset and is among the most valuable assets maintained by the City and is worth over $658.37 million (in 2024 dollars) to replace. Based on the 2024 PMP report, the City’s overall pavement condition index (PCI) is 67, which is categorized as fair.
The PCI rating of the City’s street network is depicted in Figure 1.
Planning and Implementation
The recently adopted Capital Improvement Program (Adopted Fiscal Year 2021-22, Planned Fiscal Year 2022-23 through 2025-26), shows a total five-year budget of $23.7 million, or an average annual budget of $4.7 million, dedicated towards pavement improvement. The annual budget funds several pavement improvement projects such as slurry seal, asphalt concrete overlay, and reconstruction. Streets that fall within the “good” rating require lower cost treatments, such as slurry seal and asphalt concrete overlays, as preventative measure and to ensure that they remain in good condition. Streets that fall within and below the “poor” rating require higher cost treatments such as thick asphalt concrete overlay or reconstruction.
The most cost-effective way to maintain a Good pavement condition is to avoid deferred maintenance and invest in preventative maintenance and pavement preservation. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), every $1 spend to keep a road in good condition avoids a $6 to $14 needed later to rebuild the same road once it has deteriorated significantly (see Figure 2). As such, the City allocates approximately 80% of the annual pavement budget towards preventative maintenance and treatments, and approximately 20% towards roadway pavement reconstruction.
Figure 2 - Pavement Condition Deterioration
The City prioritizes paving projects by evaluating the recommendations from the PMP Report to create an initial list of street candidates. The recommendations from the PMP Report is based on criteria selected by the City to optimize planned investment on pavement maintenance. The criteria include, but are not limited to:
- Street/roadway function or class (arterial, collector, local/residential)
- Treatment types (slurry seal, overlay, reconstruction, etc.)
- Frequency of each pavement treatment.
The City strives to promote equitable benefit by investing in neighborhoods and in street classifications that are in most need. The list of street candidates are further evaluated to ensure that there are no future underground utility projects or private development projects proposed in the same locations. Pavement work on streets with upcoming underground utility or private development projects are deferred until these projects are completed to avoid damage to newly resurfaced/reconstructed pavement.