The Signal Hill City Council approved a contract with an asphalt pavement contractor on Tuesday, July 11 to improve the pavement along Palm Drive—one of the poorest quality streets in the city.
The City Council voted to enter into a contract with the company Hardy & Harper Inc. to repair the pavement on the areas of Palm Drive that stretches from Obispo Avenue to Willow Street.
The City has set a budget of $774,000 for the project, with a contingency of $77,400 in case of unforeseen circumstances or costs. The contingency funds would only be used with the approval of the public works director.
The project is expected to take 50 working days, Contracts Manager Patrick Kelley said.
The Palm Drive Pavement Rehabilitation Project is part of the Annual Pavement Management Program for fiscal year 2023-2024. The Annual Pavement Management Program is an ongoing effort by Signal Hill to improve the quality of its pavement.
Individual streets, and the overall street conditions of cities and counties, are measured using the American Society for Testing and Materials’ standardized Pavement Conditions Index (PCI).
Kelley said that at a PCI score of 31, Palm Drive has some of the poorest pavement conditions in Signal Hill. Several potholes have been reported on the street in recent years.
Hardy & Harper Inc. will oversee the repair of nearly 50,000 square feet of asphalt pavement and 600 square feet of sidewalk; the replacement of 450 feet of curbs and gutters; and the improvement of three ramps to comply with new standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The budget for the Annual Pavement Management Program in fiscal year 2023-2024 is around $1.3 million. If all the funds for the Palm Drive Pavement Rehabilitation Project are used, including the contingency funds, there will be around $453,000 left for other pavement projects in the year.
According to a report on the Pavement Management Program Signal Hill had an overall score of 73.7 on the Pavement Conditions Index (PCI) in 2021.
Kelley gave a presentation to the city council in which he explained that if the City funds pavement repairs at $1 million a year, the City’s PCI will stay the same, whereas if $1.8 million is spent on pavement repairs each year, the score steadily increases.
Under the hypothetical scenario where the City spends $1.8 million a year, the PCI for Signal Hill is projected to reach 81.4 after fiscal year 2026-2027.
The project is tentatively expected to start on Aug. 14 and end on Oct. 25.
Signal Hill City Council meetings are held biweekly on Tuesdays at 7 p.m, and can be watched online live or as a recording on Granicus.
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