LAWTON — Lawton’s new Streets and Bridges Council Committee is tackling the task of deciding which city streets should be repaired first.
The committee consists of Lawton City Councilmen George Gill, Allan Hampton and Kelly Harris. Gill, who serves as chairman of the committee, recently asked Hampton and Harris to each name 10 road projects that should be at the top of the city’s to-do list.
Gill and the city’s engineering department will each compile their own top-10 lists for the committee to consider before presenting a final list to the council for review.
The individual project lists will be drawn from a longer list of asphalt pavement segments that could be eligible for maintenance. That list was compiled by EST Inc., an Oklahoma City-based engineering firm.
EST developed its list based on the Pavement Condition Index, a scoring system that provides a snapshot of a road’s pavement health. Streets that had a score of 35 or higher were considered eligible for repaving.
Catching up
The city has fallen behind on street repairs and needs to catch up, Gill said.
“I know Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I know we’re not going to fix all of these roads in a day,” he said. “It’s going to take some time, but at least we have a program, a direction and a willing desire to do it.”
Last week, the council directed the city’s streets division to work with EST on selecting at least 10 streets eligible for repairs. That list will form the basis for a short-term project that must be completed by Thanksgiving as part of the city’s “Ten Wins for the Citizens, On Target On Time” initiative.
Gill said it wasn’t possible for finish 10 road projects before the deadline, but he thought the city could at least get started on them. He said it wouldn’t take long for the city to develop plans for resurfacing existing asphalt roads, using a process known as mill and overlay.
“The roads are there, the surveys are there, the utilities are there,” he said. “So I don’t see a big delay in getting these roads going, like it would be if they were new roads.”
Hampton said he thought the final list of projects should include some well-known streets.
“If we pick roads that are more visible to the public, that would probably be good for all of us as a team,” he said.
The committee is charged with overseeing the city’s ad valorem street improvement program, which is funded with a portion of the city’s property tax revenues. Other responsibilities include reviewing a 2022 study of Lawton’s streets, developing an eight-year plan for road projects and educating people about the plan.
Last month, voters authorized the city to renew its property tax for street improvements for another decade. The city will issue $60 million in general obligation bonds to finance upgrades to city streets and bridges, and some of that money will be earmarked for costs associated with acquiring rights of way and relocating utility lines.