Review Updated Project Costs for Gravel Road Elimination Program and Consider Policy Development

Purpose:
Review updated project costs for Gravel Road Elimination Program (GREP), and discuss project prioritizations and funding sources.

Background:
In 2025, the City of Ramsey will need to maintain approximately 2.2 miles of public gravel surfaced roads. Maintaining gravel roads requires the use of a road grader. In non-winter months, the grader is used to grade the surface to remove potholes and “washboards” and to restore the crown on the roads so they drain properly. During winter months the grader is primarily used to plow snow from gravel roads, though grading the surface may also be required during the winter.

The City currently owns a 1999 John Deere grader, which is not identified for replacement in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP).  If this grader were to be out of service for any length of time, the city would need to rent a replacement temporarily to help maintain our gravel roads.

On July 19, 2011, the Public Works Committee discussed adopting a Gravel Road Elimination Policy but a final draft policy was never developed. However, when the City adopted a Special Assessment Policy in 2014, a statement was included in this policy that requires benefiting property owners to pay for 50-percent of the costs to convert a gravel road to a paved street. Attached is a copy of the July 19, 2011, Public Works Committee case with meeting minutes, as well as the Special Assessment Policy. 

On February 20, 2024, the Public Works Committee directed staff to obtain a geotechnical report with soil borings for all remaining public gravel surfaced roads and to explore stormwater management needs as required to convert the gravel roads to bituminous pavement sections.  Attached is a copy of the Geotechnical Exploration Report obtained from ITT including a summary and map of all existing gravel roads, with the exception of the 0.31-mile cul-de-sac segment of 173rd Avenue west of Nowthen Boulevard/CSAH 5 that is gravel surfaced but is proposed to be paved with the Trott Brook Crossing residential development within the next several years

Staff is requesting direction from the Public Works Committee on whether a Gravel Road Elimination Policy should be prepared for eventual City Council adoption. If so, Staff will calculate more detailed project cost estimates for each gravel road segment, develop a project prioritization schedule, identify recommended funding sources, and present the draft policy to the Public Works Committee upon completion.  

Notification is not required for this case. 

Timeframe:
Staff anticipates up to 30 minutes will be required to present and discuss this case and respond to questions. 
 
Observations:
In 2004, when the Gravel Road Elimination Policy was first discussed, Ramsey had about 12 miles of gravel surfaced roads. Roughly 10.1 miles of gravel roads have been paved since, or are proposed to be paved with private developments.
 
In 2024, the 0.07-mile gravel surfaced segment of Basalt Street was paved as part of Improvement Project #24-07.  In addition, the 0.13-mile segment of Limonite Street that was gravel surfaced was paved as part of the Jam Hops development. For the purpose of tonight’s discussion, the focus should be on paving the remaining 1.9 miles of gravel roads.
 
Until a Gravel Road Elimination Policy is developed, Staff will continue to explore and promote the elimination of gravel roads as part of City improvement projects and as additional private developments occur.  
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1:
Motion to direct staff to prepare a draft Gravel Road Elimination Policy that explores estimated project costs for each gravel road segment in more detail, includes a project prioritization schedule, and identifies recommended funding sources. 
 
Alternative #2:
Motion of other. 

Preliminary estimated project costs to convert the six public gravel surfaced roads to bituminous paved streets meeting current city design standards previously ranged from $1.5M to over $3M, depending on required subgrade corrections and stormwater management needs.
 
Attached is the geotechnical report dated October 7, 2024, prepared by Independent Testing Technologies (ITT) that provides design recommendations for each gravel road segment based on the results of 24 soil borings completed on September 11th and 12th, 2024. This report, which was used by Staff to refine estimated project costs for the 6 public gravel road segments totaling 1.9 miles in length, recommended no subgrade corrections or stormwater improvements.
 
Current estimated project costs total $2,260,000.  Copies of the preliminary cost estimates for all 6 segments are attached.
 
Potential funding sources for Gravel Road Elimination Program projects include;

• Public Improvement Revolving (PIR) funds
• Sanitary Sewer Funds
• Water Funds
• Stormwater Funds
• Municipal State Aid (MSA)
• Bonds
• Assessments

 
Per the attached Special Assessment Policy, property owners are to be assessed 50-percent of project costs to convert the street they directly access from gravel surfacing to bituminous pavement. 
 
Pavement Management (PM) Funds are not an option as these funds are strictly dedicated to funding pavement overlay and street reconstruction projects and are not applicable to gravel road conversion projects. Attached is a copy of the cash flow projections for these funds copied from the 2025 to 2034 Capital Improvement Plan.  

Staff recommends approving Alternative Action #1 since the Capital Improvement Program does not address replacing the 1999 road grader. 

Based on discussion.