St. Lucie County Public Works hired Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) in 2023/2024 to help develop a new pavement management plan. IMS collected data related to road rideability, surface distress, structural integrity, and the overall geometry of roadways. That information gives each road a score that will ultimately help determine when and what type of road maintenance strategy is appropriate.

IMS surveyed all 202 center-lane miles of arterial and collector roads. These types of roadways are designed to move a higher volume of people, as well as goods and services, over longer distances. Examples of County roads included in this study were Angle Road, Indian River Drive, Midway Road, Selvitz Road, and South 25th Street, among others. 

Prior to 2018, the gas tax was the primary source of funding for repaving projects. As costs associated with road care have increased, however, gas tax resources have essentially plateaued, as an increase in electric and more fuel-efficient vehicles have resulted in less of the tax being collected.

The 2018 voter-approved Half-Cent Infrastructure Sales Tax Initiative has injected new funding to help. Since its passage, the half-cent surtax has generated more than $22 million for road and bridge improvements. By comparison, the gas tax provides approximately $650,000 per year for resurfacing. Using sales tax funding, over 40 miles of roadways have been repaved or reconstructed, the majority of which are major corridors, important to St. Lucie County’s economy and vital for emergency response.

“We found that the half-cent surtax has been a big help, with greater than 75 percent of our collector and arterial road network ranking in the very good to excellent range,” said Public Works Department Director Patrick Dayan, P.E. “We’re trending in the right direction.”

By comparison, Dayan says that only 1.5 percent of major County roadways are ranked poor to very poor.

“This is the result of considerable investment in the roadway network. With this new pavement management strategy the County can utilize data to address the overall road network and better balance our efforts and investments, resulting in overall long-term cost savings to our community.”

According to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Office of Forecasting and Performance, the current estimated cost to resurface a mile of road is $1,218,272. In 2022, that estimated cost was $896,451.

The study has helped illustrate how much further County resources can go by preserving and restoring roads earlier in their life cycle.

“What we’re doing is refocusing more on preventative maintenance, and we’re buying more lane miles with the same dollar.”

The constitutional fuel tax, local fuel tax, and communications service tax almost exclusively fund operations, which include road signs, traffic signals, mowing, drainage, pothole patching, landscaping, irrigation, guardrails, and sidewalks. Approximately $650,000 from this source is available for resurfacing, annually. Since 2018, the voter-approved Half-Cent Infrastructure Sales Tax also provides funding to maintain and improve BOCC-approved roads. Supplemental funding through the general fund, as available and approved has been used in the past.

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a score between 0 and 100. Based on a variety of data collected by Infrastructure Management Services (IMS), each road surveyed received a score as part of the overall Pavement Assessment Report. These scores and reports predict road degradation based on current conditions and traffic. They also prescribe cost-effective road maintenance strategies and forecast the overall network PCI based on implementation. As more data is collected, this information is refined.

Scores correlate to road conditions as follows:

• 0-25: Very Poor
• 26-40: Poor
• 41-50: Marginal
• 51-60: Fair
• 61-70: Good
• 71-85: Very Good
• 86-100: Excellent

Expand the tab below to see what these scores could look like.

Below are samples of the different pavement conditions outlined above.

0-25: Very Poor

26-40: Poor

41-50: Marginal

51-60: Fair

61-70: Good

71-85: Very Good

86-100: Excellent

What roads are included in the Pavement Management Plan?

For the initial survey, all 200 miles of arterial and collector roads owned and maintained by the County were included. Arterial roads are major thoroughfares designed to move high numbers people, goods, and services over longer distances. These can include evacuation routes. Collector roads are characterized by movement within a vicinity or region.

How is roadway pavement maintenance funded?

The constitutional fuel tax, local fuel tax, and communications service tax almost exclusively fund operations, which include road signs, traffic signals, mowing, drainage, pothole patching, landscaping, irrigation, guardrails, and sidewalks. Approximately $650,000 from this source is available for resurfacing, annually. Since 2018, the voter-approved Half-Cent Infrastructure Sales Tax also provides funding to maintain and improve BOCC-approved roads. Supplemental funding through the general fund, as available and approved has been used in the past.

How does the pavement management plan work?

The County Public Works Department hired Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) in 2023/2024 to help develop a new pavement management plan. IMS collected data related to road rideability, surface distress, structural integrity, and the overall geometry of roadways. That information gives each road segment a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score that will ultimately help determine when and what type of road maintenance strategy is appropriate.

What is the Pavement Condition Index?

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a score between 0 and 100. Based on a variety of data collected by Infrastructure Management Services (IMS), each road surveyed received a score as part of the overall Pavement Assessment Report. These scores and reports predict road degradation based on current conditions and traffic. They also prescribe cost-effective road maintenance strategies and forecast the overall network PCI based on implementation. As more data is collected, this information is refined.

What do road scores mean?

Scores correlate to the road conditions as follows:

• 0-25: Very Poor
• 26-40: Poor
• 41-50: Marginal
• 51-60: Fair
• 61-70: Good
• 71-85: Very Good
• 86-100: Excellent

Is there a condition you’re targeting?

Yes. We will use a target average pavement condition index (PCI) score of 80 for the arterial and collector network of roads. This would rank that road in the “Very Good” category.

What condition are these roads currently in?

Based on the data collected, we were able to determine that 2.8 miles of surveyed roads ranked “Poor” or “Very Poor”. This equals less than 1.5 percent of the network. 22.2 Miles, or 11 percent of the network, ranked “Marginal” or “Fair”. 176.6 Miles, or 87.9 percent of the network, ranked “Good,” “Very Good,” or “Excellent.”

What are our priorities when it comes to pavement management?

With this plan, St. Lucie County Public Works is shifting from a “worst-first” strategy to a logical, cost-effective system, where candidate roads are based on the cost of deferral against life expectancy.

Data collected by IMS shows that, on average, a road’s quality drops by 15 percent in the first 40 percent of its life. At this stage, the goal is to preserve the pavement, which is relatively inexpensive when compared to worse conditions.

Over the next 15 percent of a road’s life, the decline in road surface quality accelerates and can drop another 40 percent. At this stage, the goal is pavement rehabilitation, which is costlier.

Beyond this state, pavement conditions will continue to worsen, but at a slower pace. Roads in this condition require pavement reconstruction, which is significantly more expensive.

According to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Office of Forecasting and Performance, the current estimated cost to resurface a mile of road is $1,218,272. Preserving and restoring roads earlier in their life cycle can have greater long-term benefits to the network and is ultimately more cost-effective.

What about local roads?

St. Lucie County plans to perform similar testing on the local paved road network and apply the same framework, using a data-based approach to inform decisions on road paving.

What about our worst roads?

Research has shown that these roads continue to degrade at a much slower pace. With the expense to restore one of these roads being so significant, a strategy to maintain and improve roads before they reach that state makes sense and will benefit the entire network. St. Lucie County will continue to monitor and address these “worst” roads as appropriate.

How might we treat some of these roads?

Roads in the “Good” to “Excellent” range may be preserved by applying a thin overlay, microsurfacing, or utilizing a slurry seal. “Marginal” to “Fair” roads can be rehabilitated with milling and overlay. “Marginal” roads would require a thick overlay to be rehabilitated, and “Poor” to “Very Poor” roads require reconstruction.

What is the recommended plan?

St. Lucie County Public Works recommends that, with sustained funding of $4.7M annually, all 200 miles of County-owned arterial and collector road segments could be improved and brought to that average target PCI score of 80. This is dependent upon the renewal of the Half-Cent Infrastructure Surtax.

What is my road isn't shown?

The County intends to collect local paved road data in the future, and this map will be updated with that information.  Please note, if your roadway is not paved with asphalt, it will not be analyzed.  It is also possible that you live on a non-County maintained roadway.  For a map of roads with the maintaining agency identified, please visit https://slcgis.stlucieco.gov/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=95a9d62a0a9443a7a2ccac3df354e32eIf or contact us at publicworks@stlucieco.gov to obtain a determination.