HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — With many residents using the Huntsville Connect app to report damaged streets, how do they decide which streets need resurfacing? "The rating system is very unique," Director of Public Works Chris McNeese shares. "It is a lengthy process. We rate our streets every two years, and the rating system goes from 0 to 60 zero, being a brand-new street, no deficiencies, 60 being the worst street with all the deficiencies that we have on our list."
Five inspectors are used to blanket the city and look for deficiencies. "They'll look for whether there's potholes or depressions," Mcneese explains. "They'll look for all the longitudinal cracks. They'll look for all the deficiencies that we have, and they'll assess a value to those deficiencies and that will ultimately add up to be the rating for that particular segment of street and that will ultimately add up to be the rating for that particular segment of street."
McNeese shares that ratings get higher from year to year which leads to streets getting put on a Master List. "We'll put a street that has reached 40 or greater, we'll put on a master list," Mcneese shares. "We'll submit that master list to all of our utilities. They will start evaluating their infrastructure and once they give us the approval or give us a green light, we'll take those streets that are on the master list. and as they approve them, they'll drop down to what we call a bid list."
That bid list is submitted to the city council so the process of resurfacing can begin. "We'll advertise and we'll put it out for bid, and we'll eventually have a pre bid then a bid," Mcneese explains. "Then we'll have a presumed low bidder at that point and when we check some paperwork with the city council for approval, it will issue a notice to proceed and then we'll start the resurfacing process."
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The City of Huntsville has over 2,300 lane miles of paved roadway within its boundaries. But, there's still more work to be done. That is why the city currently has an active contract for phase one of a road resurfacing project this year.
Director of Public Works Chris McNeese said it started in November of 2023. "We currently have a contract that consists of approximately 66 streets that our contractor has initiated. And it will go into sometime in the in the October timeframe of 2024."
This project will also consist of more than just asphalt. "Concrete repair; curb and gutter repair; sidewalk, driveway aprons if needed, those repairs as well."
Furthermore, as some may know, streets tend to decay over time. "They they fall prey to use, to heavy traffic, they fall prey to age, UV degradation. We'll have cracks, we'll have potholes, depressions ... a lot of deficiencies with our roadways that slowly are subjected to time and they'll start to slowly fall apart."
That is when the maintenance comes in. "To to get as much life as possible out of our roads, and eventually we'll have to resurface."
One tool that is encouraged for anyone wishing to report a pothole or street obstruction in your area is Huntsville Connect. "If you see a deficiency out somewhere, whether it be a depression or a pothole or obstruction in the street, you could report that through Huntsville Connect, and we get those daily and we'll distribute those reports daily to our particular superintendents in the in the area where the deficiency was located, and they'll address those issues as soon as possible."