Summary:
Needs Assessment
for
Local Roads and Streets
January 2008
SP-1a-2008
by
Indiana LTAP Center
Purdue University
1435 Win Hentschel Blvd., Suite B100
West Lafayette, Indiana 47906
Telephone: 765.494.2164
Toll Free in Indiana: 1.800.428.7639
Facsimile: 765.496.1176
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Indiana LTAP Center at Purdue University in the interest of information exchange. Purdue University and the Indiana LTAP Center assume no liability for its contents or use thereof. Purdue University and the Indiana LTAP Center do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers names may appear herein only because they are considered essential to the objective of this document. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of Purdue University or the Indiana LTAP Center. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
1. Executive Summary
The objective of this study was to update the needs of and resources available to local public agencies to construct and maintain their transportation infrastructure. Components of the infrastructure included in this study are roads, bridges and culverts, traffic and traffic safety, and operational and administrative costs.
The results of the study indicate that there exists a significant shortfall in funding in most of these areas. This confirms the common belief among local officials that such a shortfall exists. Table 1.1 below shows the increased funding necessary, over and above existing funding, for each of the main study areas. As the study progressed, it became apparent that the increased funding should have two components. The first component is the immediate need for short term funding to upgrade the current system condition to a more acceptable level. The definition of what is considered an acceptable road condition is included in later sections of this report. The short term funding should be distributed over a period of five to ten years. The second component is the long term and sustained need above and beyond the current funding available to maintain the existing system.
Table 1.1 - Transportation Infrastructure Funding ShortfallsComponent / Short Term and Immediate
($) / Long Term and Sustained
($/year)
Highways and Streets / 1,156,000,000 / 454,000,000
Bridges and Culverts / 598,000,000 / 128,000,000
Safety Improvements / 500,000,000 / 20,000,000
Total / 2,254,000,000 / 602,000,000
It should be emphasized that these numbers are, if anything, on the conservative side. This suggested funding will not result in doing any different type of work than what is being done now, just more of it. They are based on actual costs and road conditions here in Indiana. Information from many sources, including the INDOT Highway and Street Inventory, County/City Highway Operational Reports, and a state-of- the-art road condition survey of over 3,200 miles of county roads in eight separate counties conducted in 2001, was used. Bridge information was based on the most recent data available in the National Bridge Inspection Standard (NBIS) bridge database.
Table 5.1 - MVH Fund Revenues, Last Ten YearsState
Fiscal Year / Fuel Taxes / Vehicle
Taxes & Fees / Other / Total
Gross Receipts / Refunds / Net Receipts
06 - 07 / $507,920,635 / $230,656,214 / $17,272,001 / $755,848,850 / $35,684,838 / $720,164,012
05 – 06 / $529,605,814 / $219,207,960 / $18,636,083 / $767,449,858 / $48,983,670 / $718,466,188
04 – 05 / $521,194,072 / $228,413,257 / $21,929,315 / $771,536,644 / $47,044,966 / $724,491,678
03 – 04 / $510,761,667 / $224,239,001 / $22,030,049 / $757,030,717 / $43,318,433 / $713,712,284
02 – 03 / $500,180,079 / $209,894,124 / $18,298,382 / $728,372,586 / $44,470,315 / $683,902,271
01 – 02 / $494,258,076 / $220,098,244 / $18,499,595 / $732,855,916 / $39,146,134 / $693,709,782
00 – 01 / $489,580,782 / $189,286,939 / $12,112,033 / $690,979,754 / $33,777,516 / $657,202,238
99 - 00 / $498,167,131 / $215,841,674 / $12,598,610 / $726,607,415 / $34,615,976 / $691,991,439
98 - 99 / $481,034,318 / $194,646,232 / $11,213,980 / $686,894,530 / $34,355,913 / $652,538,617
97 - 98 / $469,945,633 / $184,852,812 / $12,441,364 / $667,239,810 / $38,971,042 / $628,268,768
Trend / +0.8% /year / +2.5% /year / +3.9% /year / +1.3% /year / -0.8% /year / +1.5% /year
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Table 5.2 - MVH Fund Expenses, Last Ten YearsState
Fiscal Year / Net
Receipts / Net State
Police Expense / Bureau of
Motor Vehicles / IDOR - Motor
Fuel Division / Traffic
Safety / Other
Expenses / Total
Expenses / Total
Adjustments / Net Amount
Distributed
06 - 07 / $720,164,012 / $75,920,344 / $41,905,326 / $10,767,076 / $18,435,981 / $4,931,351 / $151,959,718 / $21,848,342 / $590,052,636
05 – 06 / $718,466,187 / $68,217,305 / $38,760,213 / $12,043,846 / $16,809,572 / $2,510,279 / $138,341,215 / $29,832,192 / $609,957,163
04 – 05 / $724,491,678 / $53,443,632 / $42,755,498 / $9,762,440 / $16,691,650 / $602,128 / $123,255,350 / $22,770,102 / $624,006,431
03 – 04 / $713,712,645 / $54,518,324 / $44,579,944 / $8,356,180 / $16,785,983 / $707,658 / $124,948,089 / $31,372,164 / $620,136,720
02 – 03 / $683,902,271 / $55,314,458 / $48,339,611 / $6,679,906 / $15,233,134 / $912,282 / $126,479,391 / $7,464,099 / $564,886,978
01 – 02 / $693,709,782 / $50,206,895 / $40,919,212 / $8,636,025 / $11,708,230 / $1,074,011 / $112,544,373 / $4,642,260 / $576,523,149
00 – 01 / $657,202,238 / $59,025,314 / $40,895,838 / $5,757,841 / $5,912,748 / $816,299 / $112,408,039 / $3,000,980 / $541,793,219
99 - 00 / $691,991,438 / $56,830,778 / $40,286,144 / $6,395,352 / $5,651,782 / $7,045,104 / $116,209,159 / $1,855,394 / $573,926,886
98 - 99 / $652,539,617 / $54,249,833 / $34,592,733 / $5,120,110 / $4,251,223 / $4,022,761 / $102,236,660 / $2,752,316 / $547,549,640
97 - 98 / $628,268,768 / $50,868,854 / $44,743,217 / $5,386,504 / $4,603,557 / $519,399 / $106,121,531 / $2,319,970 / $519,827,267
Trend / +1.5% /year / +4.9% /year / -0.6% /year / +10.0% /year / +30.0% /year / +84.9% /year / +4.3% /year / +84.2% /year / +1.4% /year
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Table 5.3 - MVH Fund Distributions, Last Ten YearsState Fiscal Year / INDOT / Counties / Cities & Towns / Total
06 – 07 / $301,104,992 / $196,481,542 / $92,466,101 / $590,052,636
05 – 06 / $309,798,897 / $204,101,552 / $96,056,714 / $609,957,163
04 – 05 / $316,217,254 / $209,287,281 / $98,501,895 / $624,006,430
03 – 04 / $281,420,767 / $228,620,789 / $110,095,164 / $620,136,720
02 – 03 / $241,259,413 / $218,455,088 / $105,172,477 / $564,886,978
01 – 02 / $307,965,329 / $182,543,810 / $86,014,010 / $576,523,149
00 – 01 / $288,688,588 / $172,027,407 / $81,077,224 / $541,793,219
99 - 00 / $305,112,271 / $182,721,278 / $86,093,337 / $573,926,886
98 - 99 / $311,609,024 / $192,667,151 / $93,273,465 / $597,549,640
97 - 98 / $296,686,361 / $183,955,098 / $89,185,808 / $569,827,267
Trend / +0.1% /year / +0.7% /year / +0.4% /year / +0.4% /year
Table 5.4 - LRS Fund Revenues, Last Ten Years
State
Fiscal Year / Fuel Taxes / Vehicle
Taxes & Fees / Other / Total
Gross Receipts
06 - 07 / $158,191,694 / $18,166,550 / $0 / $176,358,244
05 - 06 / $160,217,390 / $18,943,909 / $0 / $179,161,300
04 - 05 / $158,984,143 / $18,993,217 / $0 / $177,977,361
03 - 04 / $156,367,844 / $18,911,637 / $0 / $175,279,481
02 - 03 / $153,297,592 / $18,696,043 / $0 / $171,993,635
01 - 02 / $150,510,506 / $18,470,004 / $0 / $168,980,510
00 - 01 / $149,657,617 / $18,658,469 / $99,999,996 / $268,316,082
99 - 00 / $151,841,536 / $18,991,169 / $100,000,000 / $270,832,705
98 - 99 / $144,922,245 / $18,047,873 / $50,000,004 / $212,970,121
97 - 98 / $140,754,420 / $17,758,735 / $50,000,004 / $208,513,159
Trend / +1.2% /yr / +0.2% /yr / N/A / -1.5% /yr
Table 5.5 - LRS Fund Distributions, Last Ten Years
State Fiscal Year / INDOT / Counties / Cities & Towns / Total
06 - 07 / $97,002,265 / $45,467,088 / $33,888,892 / $176,358,244
05 - 06 / $98,495,622 / $46,217,480 / $34,448,197 / $179,161,299
04 - 05 / $97,934,394 / $45,860,697 / $34,182,268 / $177,977,359
03 - 04 / $95,578,052 / $45,596,865 / $34,104,564 / $175,279,481
02 - 03 / $94,649,077 / $44,394,577 / $32,949,981 / $171,993,635
01 - 02 / $92,935,018 / $42,910,950 / $33,134,542 / $168,980,510
00 - 01 / $92,567,084 / $99,171,699 / $76,577,307 / $268,316,090
99 - 00 / $93,951,481 / $100,358,869 / $76,522,355 / $270,832,705
98 - 99 / $89,639,483 / $69,974,865 / $53,355,773 / $212,970,121
97 - 98 / $87,175,969 / $68,832,444 / $52,504,746 / $208,513,159
Trend / +1.1% /yr / -3.4% /yr / -3.5% /yr / -1.5% /yr
Local Supplemental Funding
Local agencies supplement their MVH and LRS funds in a wide variety of ways. The County Annual Operational Reports identified the sources listed in Table 5.6 as being used by local agencies to supplement their MVH and LRS distributions, along with the number of counties that have taken advantage of that source of funding, and the total amount dedicated toward the county highway program.
The total amount of this funding is over $150 million. One of the reported sources was gaming funds from the riverboats and the lottery. Just under $15 million was received by counties from these sources, which are not an option for the vast majority of the state. Excluding the gaming funds, the supplemental revenue drops to only $135 million, or about $1.4 million per county.
For the fiscal years 2006 and 2007, there is an additional distribution through the Major Moves program. The Major Moves money is a total of $150 million dollars that is being distributed among the counties, cities and towns of Indiana in addition to the money they are receiving for MVH and LRS funds. This money is only used to illustrate the difference in the funding shortage during and after the distributions.
Two points may be made by looking at this supplemental funding. First, the notion that local agencies have not fully considered resources at their own disposal before approaching state officials is unfounded. As the table indicates, all of the counties have some level of supplemental funding.
The second point is that these supplemental funds vary widely in their ability to help some counties over others. Obviously, the more populated counties are going to receive more money from local income and vehicle taxes than the rural counties, even though they may have fewer miles of roads to maintain. Riverboat proceeds are only available to a handful of counties that host these boats. Many counties could look at this list of supplemental funding sources and not find anything that would be of substantial benefit to them.
Table 5.6 - Local Highway Supplemental FundingNumber of Counties / Type of Supplemental Funding / Amount
26/92 / County Option Income Taxes / $34,778,400
45/92 / Local Option Vehicle Taxes (wheel/surtax, and/or buggy taxes) / $56,972,567
34/92 / Permits and Fees / $4,799,745
11/92 / Gaming Funds from Riverboats / $14,773,248
57/92 / Miscellaneous County Taxes (General, Capital Development, TIF, etc.) / $6,586,795
92/92 / Refunds and Reimbursements (County Engineer, Covered Bridges, etc.) / $4,938,800
80/92 / Miscellaneous (Sale of Salvage Material, Bonding, Interest) / $29,387,230
92/92 / Total / $152,236,785
Bridges and Culverts
County bridges in Indiana are maintained and replaced using county cumulative bridge funds, cumulative capital development funds, major bridge funds, and federal aid. A few of the larger counties sell bonds for large bridge projects, but this is not practical for the smaller counties. The major sources for bridge funding are further described below.
Cumulative Bridge Funds
County cumulative bridge funds are by far the preferred method of funding for new structures, and the only alternative for bridge maintenance and repairs. A recent Indiana LTAP publication reports that 87 of 92 counties utilized the Cumulative Bridge Fund as their primary source of funds for bridge repair and replacement. The Cumulative Bridge Fund is a county property tax based fund, with a statutory maximum rate of $0.30 per $100.00 assessed valuation. Most counties are not able to reach the maximum due to the constraints imposed by the frozen levy and the competition with other county departments and agencies.
Cumulative bridge funds in Indiana will generate approximately $52 million in CY 2006, by far the biggest single source of bridge funding available. One of the problems with the Cumulative Bridge Fund is that, because it generates money in proportion to the net assessed value of the county, it is not as effective in large rural counties as in smaller more developed counties. Bridge funding from the cumulative bridge fund is highly variable depending on the size and degree of development of the county as the table below shows for several selected counties. As Table 5.7 below shows, bridge funding on a per bridge basis varies widely from as low as $159 per year per bridge in Parke County, to as high as $18,067 per year per bridge in Lake County.
Counties are allowed to use cumulative bridge funds for several purposes, including construction and maintenance of small structures and culverts, as well as personnel, equipment, and supplies for work performed by county forces. An analysis of the County Highway Operational Reports for several counties indicates that these other uses consume as much as 25% of the bridge funds, leaving only 75% available for the program for replacing county bridges on the desired cycle.
Major Bridge Funds
Five counties in Indiana have been allowed to enact local legislation establishing a major bridge fund. Indiana code contains very specific requirements on what counties may utilize this fund. Population criteria determine which counties are eligible, and size and use criteria determine what constitutes a major bridge. Based on these criteria and a review of the existing bridge inventory data, it is estimated that less than 100 bridges (less than 1% of the statewide total) qualify for major bridge funding in the five enacting counties. Approximately $9 million is included in the funds available for bridge construction, even though its use is highly restricted.
Federal Aid Bridge Funds
Federal aid bridge funds have traditionally been shared between the state and the counties based on a 65/35 % split. This is based on a requirement that a minimum of 15% and a maximum of 35% of the federal aid bridge funds are spent on “off system” bridges. All “off system” bridges are located on the county system, but not all county bridges are “off system”. In other words, the 35% cap applies to “off system” bridges and not to county bridges in general. For federal fiscal year (FY) 2005, the county share of federal aid bridge funds was approximately $23.5 million. For federal FY 2006, that amount was approximately the same at nearly $23.9 million. There has been no noticeable increase in federal bridge funding over the past few years.
5.2 Estimated Funding Required
County Highways
A reasonable estimate of the funding required for maintaining the 67,637 mile system of county highways was made by looking at the paved and unpaved roads as separate systems. Initially, estimates were made to calculate only the long term and sustained needs. However, results of the road condition survey clearly indicate that enough of the highway system has deteriorated to the point where a normal maintenance program simply could not catch up. Therefore, estimates were made for the short term and immediate need to upgrade the system so that normal maintenance practices and cycles could keep up with the normal deterioration.
Costs of $7,171 per mile and $48,755 per mile were used for maintenance and reconstruction, respectively, and were based on the results from a survey sent to all of the counties. These costs represent “hard costs” to the local agencies for materials and contracted services. “Soft costs” such as labor and equipment already owned by the department are not included since these are considered administrative and operational costs.
Short Term and Immediate Needs
For paved roads, the short term and immediate need was estimated by using the results of the road condition survey to determine how much of the system had deteriorated into Poor condition. Poor condition is defined as a condition rating of 4 or less. Survey results indicate that approximately 28% of the surveyed mileage was in this class. Extrapolating the survey results to the statewide level, results in an estimated 13,113 miles of roadway in Poor condition. Based on the costs reported earlier, it is estimated that $639 million would be required to improve these highways to acceptable standards.
Table 5.8 - County Highway Maintenance Funding Requirementsw/ Major Moves $ / w/o Major Moves $
Total County Road Mileage / 67,637 miles / 67,637 miles
Total Paved Mileage / 49,692 miles / 49,692 miles
Maintenance Interval / 4 years / 4 years
Maintenance Cost / $7,171 per mile / $7,171 per mile
Resurfacing Interval / 12 years / 12 years
Resurfacing Cost / $48,755 per mile / $48,755 per mile
2006 Funding Available (per State Auditor formula) / $95,887,843 / $44,824,018
Costs and Production Required to Maintain Desired Program
Annual Cost
Annual Program for Sealing
Annual Program for Resurfacing
System Cost for Paving and Sealing
Annual Shortfall / $5,856 per mile
12,423 miles/year
4,141 miles/year
$290,979,788
$195,091,945 / $5,856 per mile
12,423 miles/year
4,141 miles/year
$290,979,788
$246,155,770
Program Possible w/ given Mileage, Budget, and Costs
Sealing Interval
Resurfacing Interval / 12 years
37 years / 29 years
75 years
Mileage Possible w/ Existing Budget and Desired Program
Mileage / 16,374 miles / 7,654 miles
Since the road condition survey only included paved roads, a similar calculation cannot be made for the unpaved roads based on their condition rating. Therefore, the short term need for these unpaved roads is estimated at $35 million based on the relationship between the short and long term needs for the paved roads.
Long Term and Sustained Needs
For the paved roads, a spreadsheet was developed to calculate the funding required based on user specified maintenance cycles and costs. The maintenance cycle of surface treatments at 4 year intervals and overlays at 12 year intervals were based on current industry standards and discussions with industry experts. The results of the funding spreadsheet are summarized in Table 5.8. For the nearly 50,000 miles of paved county roads, $291 million per year is required to maintain the 4/12 program. This is approximately equivalent to $5,900 per mile per year.
Unpaved roads still constitute a significant portion of the county roads in Indiana, about 30% according to road inventory data included in the County Highway Operational Reports. Approximately $23 million is required annually to adequately maintain these unsurfaced roads.
Bridges and Culverts
Costs for bridge replacements are based on the results of a survey sent to all county highway departments asking for cost data for all bridges constructed during the past three years. The results of the survey indicate average bridge construction unit costs of $165 per square foot for local projects and $216 per square foot for federal aid projects. Existing bridge lengths greater than 125 feet long were assumed to be replaced using federal aid, while bridges less than 125 feet long were assumed to be locally funded. Bridge expansion factors of 1.3 and 1.1 were used for local and federal aid projects respectively. Replacement bridge widths were assumed to be 8 feet wider than the existing bridge. Expansion factors for length and width were also based on the bridge survey mentioned above.
Short Term and Immediate Needs
The calculation of the short term and immediate funding required to upgrade the county bridge system is again based on the premise of a 50 year life. Bridges are eligible for replacement when they are classified as deficient and have a sufficiency rating less than 50. The cost of upgrading the system to an acceptable level is based on performing enough projects so that there are no more than 2% of the bridges eligible for replacement (i.e. the number of bridges that should be replaced within a given year). According to the NBIS data, there are currently 1,495 county bridges in Indiana that meet these criteria for replacement. This is 1,240 bridges over the 2% limit. Based on a reasonable distribution of federal aid and local construction, actual bridge construction costs provided by counties and consultants, and average bridge sizes, it is estimated that it would cost approximately $478 million to replace these deficient bridges.
As mentioned previously, bridge funds are required not only for bridges 20 feet and longer, but also for the thousands of smaller bridges and culverts. A similar calculation estimates the short term need to upgrade this group at $120 million.
Long Term and Sustained Need
Once this improvement program was completed, the annual program to maintain the 50 year life cycle would require the replacement of 255 bridges each year. Again, based on the same assumptions for federal aid and local projects, costs, and bridge sizes, an estimated $146 million per year would be required to maintain the system at this level. An additional $59 million would be required annually for routine replacement of small bridges and culverts.
Safety Improvements
Previous sections of this report have identified the need for certain safety improvements to be made on Indiana county roads. These improvements apply primarily to paved roads only and include pavement markings and added width for narrow roads.
The cost of providing pavement markings required by the MUTCD must be estimated because of the lack of traffic data on county roads. Mandatory requirements of the MUTCD should not be the only reason for pavement striping. Pavement striping, whether or not it is required by the MUTCD, increases the amount of safety on the road. A reasonable goal for pavement striping is for 50% of all county roads to have centerline striping and 25% to have both centerline and edgeline striping. The added costs to county highway departments to accomplish this are estimated at $20 million per year.