Lawton needs designated maintenance program to address problem streets

A formal street maintenance program, one that includes drainage, is a crucial component in addressing Lawton’s street problems, city officials say.

Members of the Streets and Bridges Committee, comprised of City Council members and city staff associated with streets, have begun setting priorities for street and bridge work that will be funded with existing dollars, as well as an additional $60 million in ad valorem revenue that will become available if Lawton voters approve an extension of the ad valorem program Sept. 12. The committee already has recommended its top priorities for bridge work, a recommendation that the City Council signed off on recently.

Committee members are waiting for city staff to help assign priorities for remaining bridges and for five identified street projects. But Ward 4 Councilman George Gill, who chairs the committee, said Lawton also must look at new ways to address a long-time problem. He said the idea is to “take a different approach than in the past,” when roads in bad condition were rebuilt without thought given to the fact that less costly repairs could be made instead.

Gill said city officials need to look at what they do, in terms of resurfacing more roads, adding there are many that could be resurfaced, giving them an additional seven to eight years of life. It’s an attractive option because repairs and overlay are less costly than rebuilds, city engineers say.

“We need to concentrate more on resurfacing, rather than rebuilding,” Gill said of plan to create a specific streets maintenance program.

Gill said that program must address what he and streets officials say is the most common source of road problems.

“Water is the biggest factor,” Gill said, explaining water isn’t draining away from roadways because of various factors — noting, for example, that many bar ditches have mature trees growing in them, indicating they are not maintained.

In other instances, drainage problems aren’t noticeable until water backs up and ponds on a road. Streets workers say water is important because of its effect: eating away at the road surface, washing away the support structure under the pavement or, in the winter, freezing and making cracks worse. Streets Superintendent Cliff Haggenmiller said addressing water will mean focusing on drainage structures, explaining that many of the city’s structures are 20-30 years old.

City officials said they are already implementing actions to address the ever-expanding list of problem roads. Haggenmiller said this year’s streets budget includes $3 million for asphalt, a greater amount than in previous years and one that will provide more material to do more repair work. He said his division also is working to create an eight-year plan for street priorities, similar to one the Oklahoma Department of Transportation uses. City of Lawton streets officials now work under a five-year plan, Haggenmiller said, adding that taking the priority list too far beyond that point “gets shady” because “conditions change.”

But Gill said EST Inc., design engineers that are working with city officials, have recommended an eight-year plan.

Council members also will be brought into the equation, Gill said, explaining each council member will take a trip through his/her ward with city staff to look at streets.

“That will have a bearing on our road priorities,” Gill said, adding there will be input from council members and engineers.

Gill said his recommendation is that priority be shifted to repairing streets when possible.

“If it’s salvageable at all, we’ll resurface,” he said, adding the priority for rebuilding will be on streets “that are completely gone,” as determined by analysis.

Gill said city officials also need to take a broader view of Lawton in determining road projects, explaining most of the development taking place and continuing into the next decade will be in east Lawton.

“And, we’re hurting for roads there,” he said.