Memorandum

City of Lawrence                 

Public Works

TO:	Mark Thiel
FROM:	Mike Perkins, Street Division Manager
Date:	07/01/2014
RE:	2014 Street Division Mid-Year Report

The City of Lawrence Street Maintenance Division is responsible for 333.6 center line miles of streets (825.1 lane miles) with 38 employees. The work force is divided into 4 crews, asphalt, concrete, levee/sweeping/alleys and storm water.

The Street Maintenance Division provides a wide range of services for our citizens, for transportation maintenance and for community events. Our normal activities include pot hole patching, curb and gutter repair, City owned sidewalks and wheel chair ramps, crack sealing, street sweeping, snow removal and storm drain and pipe cleaning. These are the things that people see us do every day.

The Street Division is also primarily responsible for the Kansas River and Mud Creek Levee system. The levee covers 2,600 acres and is about 13 miles long. The Levee protects North Lawrence and a large portion of farm land in Douglas County from the Kansas River and Mud Creek during flood events. The river levels are monitored by our staff year round and are the first to respond to rising water levels. We also maintain 8 miles of the Levee top for recreation, a popular place for walking, jogging and bike riding.

We maintain 250 miles of open drainage channels, many of which that are in remote areas of the City. We also take care of the three storm water pump stations in North Lawrence. These pumps keep the underpass on North 2nd street dry and remove up to 22,000 gallons of water per minute from the low lying areas every time it rains.

The Street Division provides traffic control devices for special events, and all emergencies such as fires or major traffic accidents as needed throughout the community. All members of the Division have received training for natural disasters such as tornadoes or floods and are experts at debris management and removal.  We often assist other City Departments with heavy construction projects that involve earth moving, concrete and asphalt work.    

The winter season of 2013/2014 started as a normal snow and ice year, with a series of ice and little total snow. As 2014 began there were a series of weekend snow events and extreme cold weather which enhanced the challenges of removing the snow and ice from the pavement. The end of the snow and ice season brought with it 2 near record snow falls. These freeze / thaw cycles are resulting in an increase total number of pot holes we have been dealing with to date.

The number of pot holes calls for this year so far from the Pot Hole Hot Line and from the web site e-mail form has been 322 combined, compared to 197 for the same period last year. The effects of the harsh winter are being seen in the condition of our pavement despite an aggressive pavement maintenance plan. Potholes have increased during the first six months of this year to date 6,075 pot holes have been patched compared to 3,983 during the same period in 2013. We have continued to embrace the importance of our crack seal program and have increased the amount of crack sealing applied from 41,277 lbs. for the first 6 months of 2013 to 52,347 lbs. for the same period of 2014.

We have had four major downtown events so far this year, The Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, the Free State Festival, Tour of Lawrence bike race, and the KU Relays Downtown Shot-put Event. We did prepare for the KU basketball NCAA run, but unfortunately it did not materialize.

MAJOR PROJECTS COMPLETED (in addition to routine maintenance)

1. Replaced curb and gutter at round about 24^th Pl. and Inverness.

2. Graded all alleys in the City.

3. Swept all City streets 3 times and all major streets twice.

4. 13 Snow and Ice events ranging from freezing mist to major snow storms.

5. Preformed required mowing on levee system totaling 1,203 acres.

6. Removed and re-poured 3 garage bay floors at the Central Maintenance Garage.

7. Repaired erosion in well ditches on Mud Creek levee.

8. Rehabilitated alley way at 901 Kentucky in conjunction with 9^th St. construction project.

9. Graded entire levee trail surface.

10. Complete concrete rehabilitation of pavement on Ridge Court.

11. Channel repair and improvement on McDonald Dr.

12. Replaced undermined pavement and filled voids on 8^Th and Lawrence Ave.

13. Used 52,347 lbs. of crack filler on various streets.

14. Repaired satellite salt storage building at VenturePark.

15. Built pad and storage bunker for re-location of recycled glass bin.

16. Repaired and replaced curb and gutter on Crestline between Harvard and Orchard Lane.

17. Recycled and paved E 900 Road.

18. Repaired and re-paved apron and access to helipad at airport.

19. Improved and replaced 338 ft. of sidewalk.

20. Replaced 14,693 Square Feet of deteriorated and failing concrete pavement.

21. Cleaned and removed silt from storm water detention area at Centennial Park.

22. Improved ADA access by installing 18 new or improved ADA sidewalk ramps.

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS/PENDING

1. Extend the recreational surfacing on Kansas River Levee north to north termination point.
2. 2014 crack seal program.
3. Install concrete pipe on the Mississippi St. Storm Water project.
4. Asphalt pavement rehabilitation E. 21st St. and E. 21st Terr.
5. Concrete repair Orchard Lane.
6. Concrete repair Cedarwood Ave.

These projects demonstrate our skills, our pride in workmanship, and our commitment in providing quality City Services that go beyond routine maintenance. More projects will be added to the list before the end of the year and we will be ready to fit them into our schedule.

The continued growth of the division in terms of responsibility, project complexity, and size continues to grow with much success. The divisions’ staff is a group of professionals that are eager to take on these growing responsibilities. In many instances the only limit to their ability will be equipment owned. We look forward to continued growth of the division with much success.

R) Turntable

Pothole Reports	Total Usage from 1/1 to 6/30
Potholes reported on Hotline & phone	132.00
Potholes reported on Wufoo (on-line reporting)	190.00
Asphalt	Total Usage from 1/1 to 6/30
Number of holes patched	6,075.00
Tons of Hot mix used	1,503.75
Tons of Cold mix used	149.67
Yards of Durapatch used	87.00
Pounds of Crack Sealer used	52,347.00
Sweeping	Total Usage from 1/1 to 6/30
Tons of Debris collected	3,606
Miles Swept	3,229
Acres Mowed	1,203
Downtown	142 miles
Arterials	1,252 miles
Residentials	1,889 miles
Concrete	Total Usage from 1/1 to 6/30
Yards of Concrete place	565.00
Feet of Curb	2,219.00
Sq. Ft. Pavement Repaired	17,398.00
	Total Usage from 1/1 to 6/30
Catch Basins rebuilt	16.00
Catch Basins Cleared	705.00
Feet of Pipe Cleared	560.00