City of Pittsburgh Begins Street Milling and Paving Next Week
PITTSBURGH — The Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) is beginning its 2022 milling and paving program next week.
This year the city is investing over $12.5 million in the street resurfacing program, which supports asphalt street resurfacing and ADA curb ramp upgrades on paved streets throughout Pittsburgh.
DOMI is responsible for over 1,000 miles of roadway. Approximately 39 miles of streets will be resurfaced this year. Additional mileage will be resurfaced through cooperative agreements with local public utilities. Mechanical patching and crack sealing will improve many additional miles by addressing particular trouble spots on otherwise acceptable street corridors, stretching the city’s tax dollars further.
DOMI works with community groups, council members, and 311 to identify potential issues in the right-of-way regarding street surface conditions. DOMI's staff and engineers create a yearly list based off of the following criteria:
- Street Overall Condition Index (OCI) - Every street in Pittsburgh has an OCI score based upon the physical condition. Once the condition of the street deteriorates past a certain threshold it is given additional priority on the paving list. DOMI takes an additional step by field-verifying the condition of streets to make sure that the highest need streets are prioritized.
- Street Use - Streets are broken into three categories: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Primary roads receive the most use, which results in their OCI score dropping more quickly than Secondary or Tertiary.
- Equity - Historically, some districts in the city have had a higher average condition score than other districts. DOMI takes this into consideration when allocating the paving budget, to make sure that communities that were historically underserved receive greater resources to raise the condition of their roads.
Once a street has been resurfaced, DOMI works with either city crews or a contractor to restore, and in some cases, improve, the pavement markings that are in place. In addition, new ADA curb ramps along a section of street that is repaved are required to be brought up to current standards. This year DOMI expects to update approximately 1,200 curb ramps. If upgrades are needed, they are performed the year following street paving.
Non-asphalt—concrete, brick, and cobblestone—streets are not part of the city’s paving program due to the increased complexity and cost associated with them. Typically, these streets are included as their own separate projects within the city’s capital budget. In an effort to preserve these long-lasting materials, DOMI’s primary approach is to perform repairs to these streets. Council legislation is required in order convert a concrete, brick, or cobblestone street to asphalt.
The City expects to begin paving on April 18. Streets scheduled for upcoming paving will be posted weekly on DOMI’s website.
The full schedule for the week, including details on intersections, is available here.
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