Study: Town Underfunding Road Repair

A months-long study of Mount Pleasant's roads and stormwater drainage systems indicates both positive and deeply worrisome news for the town.

The good news: The town's roads are mostly in good shape. A consultant gives them a grade of C, which is about average for most municipalities, he said.

The bad news: Just maintaining that level of quality will require the town to increase its maintenance budge by nearly 6 times its current level. That translates to another $11.3 million annually just to keep up.

Currently the town spends $2.4 million annually on roads and drainage maintenance. The consultant recommends gradually allocating several million dollars more each year to repair and maintenance of roads and stormwater drainage.

"It's good that you are ahead of the curve," said Andy Dalziel, an engineer with Stantec, the consultant that evaluated the infrastructure. But current wear and tear shows "a downward trend. It will be hard for (the town) to maintain that in 20 to 30 years."

Though the estimated $13 million to $14 million cost is "sobering," said one councilman, the need for more investment is not surprising. Candidates made the unfunded capital maintenance budget a campaign issue last fall. Along with ballooning healthcare costs, town leaders said eventual road repair and replacement was a serious issue.

"I think that we should set aside $2 million to $3 million per year," said Town Administrator Eric DeMoura. "We have a priority list, and we will just hit (road projects) one at a time until then."

Many of the town's roads will be due for an overhaul in coming years as a handful of neighborhoods pass 20 and 30-year anniversaries, Dalziel said. Fortunately the big costs, stormwater drainage repairs, will come in 20 years, so the town has time to get ready.

"Many communities don't have the foresight," Dalziel said. "We do need to look forward at what the needs will be in the future."

Stantec has since February been traveling roads in Mount Pleasant collecting up-close video observations of the pavement's current condition.