Dear Ms. Mengel,
This is in response to your petition dated March 26, 2014 regarding resurfacing of the streets in the Seabridge South Subdivision. I recall addressing a similar request from you in June 2009 wherein we inspected the pavement condition and acknowledged that most of the micro-surfacing treatment had worn off and generally the pavement looked bad. Since receiving this latest request I have had my pavement inspector revisit your subdivision and while the pavement generally looks bad there are no signs of failure of the base material below the asphalt. There is also asphalt raveling of the old micro-surfacing and some settlement of the asphalt around manholes which was present when the last micro-surfacing treatment was done. All potholes were observed as having been repaired, and our road maintenance division has reported that repair frequency is about the same as other residential subdivisions of similar age. As I stated to you before it is not that resurfacing or another surface treatment is not needed, just that funding is simply not available to cover all the needs in the county. Unfortunately, this means fewer roads can be resurfaced in a timely manner.
We are continuing to give resurfacing priority to be those roads that are of most dire need. Besides assessment of the existing pavement condition, two key factors in prioritizing roads to be resurfaced are traffic volumes and the likelihood of damage to the structural foundation if not resurfaced in the near future. Your subdivision streets are low volume and as I mentioned, we found no evidence of structural damage.
Funding for resurfacing of roads comes from local gas taxes collected at the fuel pump. Since the tax is pennies per gallon rather than a percentage of the gas price, revenues remain nearly the same from year to year even though asphalt prices (being petroleum based) and gas prices have continued to rise. Add to that, people are generally driving a little less plus vehicles are getting better gas mileage.
While I continue to agree that the asphalt conditions of the streets in the Seabridge South are far from ideal there are more critical needs that must be addressed with our limited revenue.
I wish I could give you better news or even give you and your neighbors a timetable for resurfacing.
Sincerely,
Gerald N. Brinton, P.E.
County Engineer/ Director of
Engineering & Construction
Gerald (Jerry) N. Brinton, P.E.
County Engineer / Director of Engineering & Construction
123 West Indiana Avenue
DeLand, FL 32720-4262
Tel: (386) 736-5967, ext. 2294
Cell: (386) 878-5020
email: gbrinton@co.volusia.fl.us
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