SEBASTIAN — Drivers passing through Sebastian and residents who use the streets daily might have the perception that the city’s roads are rougher than they actually are. A new study shows that 83 percent of the streets are actually in good condition – while only 4 percent are rated “bad.”
“We’re trying to get ahead of the horse,” City Engineer Frank Watanabe said, explaining that he wanted to get the pavement assessment done before the budget was set.
Watanabe told the Council he drove each of the city’s streets performing a visual inspection to rank the roads by condition: bad, poor, fair and good.
After ranking the roads, Watanabe went back to those that he deemed “bad” and then established an estimate as to what the fix would be and at what cost.
Projected costs to fix some roads in the 2015-16 fiscal year sits at $660,000. To reconstruct, patch and otherwise repair the other bad roads, Watanabe estimates another $1 million in expenses.
Along with budgeting for road repairs, Watanabe recommended the Council consider purchasing what he calls a patch truck – a vehicle that handles hot asphalt for patching and filling potholes.
Councilwoman Andrea Coy agreed that a patch truck would be a worthy investment, noting that a pothole on her street has been patched three times, each time lasting only a couple months.
“We can’t keep doing that,” Coy said.