City infrastructure (i.e., streets, curbs, sidewalks, alleys, sewers, etc.) is something that is very important to citizens, but something that is usually boring to talk about (until you blow out a tire by hitting a pothole the size of the Grand Canyon).
After one of my recent posts featuring a 1916 postcard that showed a residential street in KCK, I got an email from someone who said something along the lines of, "Hey, I think I still have the same curb in front of my house. When do I get a new one?"
Ouch... very possibly true... but ouch.
So, let's talk infrastructure.
At the Commission Strategic Planning meeting last Saturday, we got the preliminary summary of results from the recently completed countywide citizen survey.
The survey is something that I have strongly advocated for since being elected and, this year, the Commission agreed to complete the survey as a component of strategic planning and the budget process.
I'll publish lots more information about the results of the survey in upcoming posts, but today we are going to continue talking about infrastructure.
The top priority for citizens completing the survey (regardless of Commission District) was improving the condition and maintenance of city streets. This was, by far, the top choice. The survey prompt just said "city streets", but I think it's a safe bet that people who responded to the survey were also thinking about curbs, sidewalks, alleys and sewers when they responded.
The results of this survey, then, strongly reinforce what many people have communicated to me directly… We need to wrap our brains around the challenge of maintaining our infrastructure in good working order and then create a plan to git 'r done.
KCK is not alone in needing to pay attention to infrastructure. In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the nation's infrastructure an overall grade of D. In its report, the ASCE emphasized that "America's critical infrastructure—principally, its roads, bridges, drinking water systems, mass transit systems, schools, and systems for delivering energy—may soon fail to meet society's needs." The ACSE estimates that $3.6 trillion needs to be invested in the nation's infrastructure by 2020.
Wow.
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A few years ago, the citizens of Wyandotte County approved a 3/8 cent sales tax increase, with 1/3 of that revenue designated for infrastructure improvements.
Unfortunately, the amount of money generated by that special sales tax is less than a drop in the bucket when you consider all of the infrastructure that needs attention and how expensive it is to build, repair or replace.
If it will take $3.6 trillion nationwide, I wondered what kind of money we need to invest in the infrastructure in District 2. Since I'm a nerd and couldn't think of anything better to do on a Sunday afternoon, I gathered a stack of Google maps and used a ruler to plot and measure the linear miles of street within the District boundaries. I then made some assumptions and calculations to estimate the linear miles of curbs, sidewalks and alleys in addition.
Using those figures, and the average replacement cost for each different piece of infrastructure, I calculated two things: (1) what it would cost to replace everything that's broken right now and (2) what it would cost per year if we started and "annual plan" with the goal of replacing everything that's broken in 10 years.
Here are the assumptions and calculations for streets, curbs, sidewalks and alleys. The dollar figures in red represent how much money it would take to fix things now and the dollar figures and blue represent the money it would take to fund an "annual plan". If you don't want to wade through all the different pieces of infrastructure, just skip down to the "TOTALS" heading below.
Asphalt streets
83 miles (calculated "roughly" by hand from Google maps)
Calculations don't include "boundary streets" of 18th Street or State Avenue
Grind and overlay cost = $90,000 per mile (assume 2x12' lanes with no complications)
Total replacement cost for "grind and overlay" = $7,470,000 one time now
- OR -
Assume 25 year replacement cycle for "grind and overlay" = $298,800 per year
Curbs
Assume 75% of streets have curbs both sides = 125 miles of curb
Assume 50% of curbs need to be replaced = 63 miles of replacement
Replacement cost = $25,000 per 800 ft. (assume no complications)
Total replacement cost = $10,395,000 one time
- OR -
Ten year replacement project = 1,039,500 per year (for 10 years)
Sidewalks
Assume 66% of streets have sidewalks both sides = 110 miles of sidewalks
Assume 50% of those sidewalks need to be replaced = 55 miles of replacement
Replacement cost = $20,000 per 800 ft. (assume no complications)
Total replacement cost = $7,392,000 one time
- OR -
Ten year replacement project = $739,200 per year (for 10 years)
Alleys
Assume 66% of blocks (linear miles) have alleys = 55 miles of road
Assume that any linear mile of alley represents 2 linear miles of road = 28 miles of alley
Assume that all alleys need to be replaced = 28 miles of replacement
Replacement cost (roughly) = $15,000 per 800 ft. (assume no complications)
Total replacement cost = $2,772,000 one time
- OR -
Ten year replacement project = $277,200 per year (for 10 years)
= = TOTALS = =
Replace everything now (all asphalt and everything else that is "broken")
$28,029,000 one time
- OR -
Start "annual plan" (start 25 year cycle on asphalt replacement and replace everything else that is currently "broken" over a 10 year time frame)
$2,354,700 per year for 10 years
It would take an amount of money equivalent to about 1/10 of the entire UG budget to fix the broken infrastructure just in District 2!!!!! That's scary. And that's just for replacement, not for ongoing maintenance and repair!!
I haven't even considered sewers which is undoubtedly a messier calculation (pun intended), but they are probably way more expensive than anything else we've looked at here. :-(
Frankly, it's a little disheartening to look at the size of those numbers and realize the amount of work we have ahead of us. But I believe we can confront this challenge and I believe we can succeed.
I'll post another article later this week with information on how we are already starting to chip away at our infrastructure replacement needs and how we can increase the rate of infrastructure repair.
As always, don't hesitate to let me know if you have thoughts, comments or suggestions on this or any other topic.
Have a great week!
~ Brian
bmckiernan@wycokck.org
- or -
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