Laser-equipped van finds Sioux Falls road conditions ahead of national average

Roads conditions are the primary complaint Sioux Falls residents make when grading the performance of City Hall.

The gripes about potholes and crumbling streets have become a predictable tradition when the city sends out its annual survey.

But reality might not meet the public's perception.

That's according to a report recently released by Infrastructure Management Services (IMS), the Arizona-based company hired to assess the conditions of all 13,280 blocks of city streets in Sioux Falls.

Using a laser and camera-equipped van, IMS drove every block of city streets last September, analyzing pavement for cracking, rutting, weathering and several other conditions that are signs of deterioration.

Previously:Laser-equipped van back in Sioux Falls to assess road conditions

And the results show Sioux Falls streets are better maintained and of higher quality than the national average.

According to the report, the average street score is 70, graded on a scale of zero through 100, and is considered to be in the "very good" category. IMS says its typical clients fall in the lower 60s range. 

That doesn't mean all streets are in pristine conditions, though. IMS found that about 4 percent of Sioux Falls roads are in what it considered to be poor condition.

Still, that's a positive takeaway from the report, IMS Client Services Director Zac Thomason told City Councilors Tuesday.

"Quite frankly that's a phenomenal number," he said. "Anything less than 10 percent is considered financially ideal from a pavement perspective."

After years of surveying road conditions by eye using its own staff, the Sioux Falls Public Works Department first began using IMS in 2015 to get a more focused and objective assessment. The data collected is plugged into a computer model and used by the street department to prioritize what streets should be resurfaced or replaced and when.

IMS recommends the city focus the bulk of its street budget on ensuring that roads in the moderate and fair categories and not necessarily prioritize the worst roads first.

Thomason said that approach is due to the dollars it takes to maintain a road verses fully reconstructing it, using the analogy of maintaining a car as oppose to waiting until it needs a new engine.

"We're going to change the oil every 3,000 miles instead of swapping the engine every 30,000 miles," he said. "It's a financial decision because it's far more cost effective, and roads are exactly the same."

Public Works Director Mark Cotter agreed and said focusing only on the 4 percent of streets considered to be in poor or very poor quality could be done, but it would "exacerbate" the city's budget and force the remaining 96% of roads to be ignored.

That it costs the same to reconstruct one block of road as it does to slurry seal 33 blocks supports the position taken by the city of not repairing the worst roads first, he said.

Cotter, though, acknowledged that the city can't ignore the streets in the worst condition.

"We do a number of reconstruction every year and we work those in (to the annual program)," he said. "We just don't want to work them all in in one year."

The IMS contract is valued at $180,000.

Battling public percetption

With 800 miles of roads valuing more than $1 billion, and a rosy road condition assessment completed, City Hall is launching a public education and awareness campaign called "Street Cred."

The series of videos that will be shared on the CityLink television channel and city of Sioux Falls social media pages is aimed at aligning the reality that compared to other communities, Sioux Falls has a positive road story to tell, Cotter said while announcing the campaign Tuesday.

"It's a campaign to help shift public perception of the street system to a more positive note and install pride in the investment that gets made," he said.

An interactive map and a landing website page has also been created where visitors can read IMS's full report and review the scores of the streets they live and commute on.

Councilors lauded Cotter and IMS for their work and condition of the Sioux Falls street network. And putting that information - good and bad - in a place that's easy for residents to access only bolsters government transparency, Councilor Alex Jensen said.

"Airing all of our dirty laundry out there on the website — I think it's absolutely critical that you do that and continue to do that," he said. "It creates accountability for you guys, for us as the council and the administration."

Visit the Street Cred website here.

By the numbers 

19 - Percent of city streets considered to be in excellent condition, only requiring routine maintenance. An example of a roadway section in excellent condition is West Norma Trail from Mary Beth Avenue to June Avenue.

31 - Percent of streets that fall into the very good classification. These roads benefit most from preventative maintenance techniques like slurry seals and thin overlays. South Regent Park Drive from Copper Ridge Road to 95th Street was graded as very good.

20 - Percent of the streets rated as good and should be eyed for lighter surface-based rehabilitation. West Lavern Wipf Street from Ellis Road to Mary Beth Avenue got a good rating.

26 - Percent of streets considered to be in fair to marginal condition. IMS recommends the city aggressively rehab these streets before they begin to rapidly fall toward disrepair. North North Drive near the state penitentiary between Phillips Avenue and Walnut Street falls into this category.

4 - Percent of streets rated as poor or very poor, meaning they need to be fully reconstructed. West Madison Street from Western Avenue to Lyndale Avenue is considered to be in poor condition, according to IMS findings.