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The author seems to suggest that the maintenance of the road 30 years from now will cost as much as the current major reconstruction. I expect the maintenance

by jmpman 6y ago

The author seems to suggest that the maintenance of the road 30 years from now will cost as much as the current major reconstruction. I expect the maintenance of a 30 year old road is significantly less. I’d determine the bond required to provide the equivalent maintenance over 30 years, levy a one time charge against the individual properties (as a lien against the property value of needed), equal to the total costs minus the expected post 30 year maintenance costs. Then issue a bond for the expected 30 year maintenance costs. Eventually the properties will pay off the lien, and have a predictable yearly bond. Propose that to all the impacted property owners, let them vote on it, and go with a majority rule. If the property owners expect their property values to increase more than the lien, they should vote for it, if not, it’s an inefficient use of resources and they should vote against it.

hadlock 6y ago
The road in front of my childhoom home was originally built to the blog post author's "new" standard, and then replaced after 30 years. Rebuilding the road involved breaking up the concrete, laying new rebar, and pouring the concrete. This happened over a period of about three days. I think the road was drivable on day five once the concrete had set. Since the concrete comes out in great big chunks, the mould is already ready for the concrete to be poured. It was pretty fast, I think they really had to work to even stretch it out into a three day project. That said, this project in the blog post is a total upgrade of the street, what exists currently is two ditches, which are probably a mosquito spawning ground several months a year, and in the middle is asphalt on top of dirt which is a small step up from a dirt road. The end result of curbs, concrete road and ADA-compliant sidewalk is huge. People will want to move to this neighborhood after the upgrade goes in. With the bare strip of asphalt, the curb-appeal of the houses in this neighborhood is quite low. Also also, concrete residential roads typically have a 40 year lifespan, not 30. My town could have easily ground down the top 1/2" of concrete road surface for a fraction of the price and gone another 10 years without any further maintenance.
- asdff 6y ago
  Concrete roads aren't as good where it winters. They shift as the ground changes temperature and expands or contracts, and trucks and plows destroy them at the seams.
syshum 6y ago
The author is saying the road has a life of 30 years and will need to be replaced in 30 years, since the repayment of the bond will take 35 years they will have to do another bond to replace the road again, and still be paying 5 more years on the road that was replaced > levy a one time charge against the individual properties that is not how public infrastructure works, or should work We pay property taxes and estiblish a government so the government assumes those costs and liabilities not the property owners There are many communities that operate like the way you suggest, they are PRIVATE roads, not public roads. The trade off for the property owner is they can not disallow members of the public access to that road, the property owner gives up this control because they no longer own, control or have any liability over the road however if you are going to place a lien on my property for the cost of the road then I better have more ownership interest and control over it

by jmpman 6y ago

hadlock 6y ago

The road in front of my childhoom home was originally built to the blog post author's "new" standard, and then replaced after 30 years. Rebuilding the road involved breaking up the concrete, laying new rebar, and pouring the concrete. This happened over a period of about three days. I think the road was drivable on day five once the concrete had set. Since the concrete comes out in great big chunks, the mould is already ready for the concrete to be poured. It was pretty fast, I think they really had to work to even stretch it out into a three day project. That said, this project in the blog post is a total upgrade of the street, what exists currently is two ditches, which are probably a mosquito spawning ground several months a year, and in the middle is asphalt on top of dirt which is a small step up from a dirt road. The end result of curbs, concrete road and ADA-compliant sidewalk is huge. People will want to move to this neighborhood after the upgrade goes in. With the bare strip of asphalt, the curb-appeal of the houses in this neighborhood is quite low. Also also, concrete residential roads typically have a 40 year lifespan, not 30. My town could have easily ground down the top 1/2" of concrete road surface for a fraction of the price and gone another 10 years without any further maintenance.

asdff 6y ago
Concrete roads aren't as good where it winters. They shift as the ground changes temperature and expands or contracts, and trucks and plows destroy them at the seams.

syshum 6y ago

The author is saying the road has a life of 30 years and will need to be replaced in 30 years, since the repayment of the bond will take 35 years they will have to do another bond to replace the road again, and still be paying 5 more years on the road that was replaced > levy a one time charge against the individual properties that is not how public infrastructure works, or should work We pay property taxes and estiblish a government so the government assumes those costs and liabilities not the property owners There are many communities that operate like the way you suggest, they are PRIVATE roads, not public roads. The trade off for the property owner is they can not disallow members of the public access to that road, the property owner gives up this control because they no longer own, control or have any liability over the road however if you are going to place a lien on my property for the cost of the road then I better have more ownership interest and control over it