Pavement Management Program

The Village of Shorewood owns and maintains approximately 28 lane miles of roadway. To meet Wisconsin Department of Transportation requirements, all Village roadways are rated on a biennial basis, in odd calendar years. In 2009, the Village of Shorewood adopted its first Pavement Management Plan. The primary purpose of the document was to comprehensively plan improvement and maintenance activities in order to maximize the useful life of existing pavements. The document was drafted with the intention that updates would be made as changing road conditions or other factors warrant.

What is Pavement Management?

An effective pavement management plan evaluates existing road conditions and formulates a plan to address and improve deteriorating infrastructure. Pavement management recognizes that a municipality is never “done” maintaining its roads and therefore must implement a long term strategy to anticipate road improvements and budget accordingly. By planning improvements and maintenance activities comprehensively, the Village of Shorewood can maximize the useful life of existing pavements and ultimately reduce the concentration on reconstruction and focus on maintenance.

Goals of Pavement Management

Pavement management is asset management. There are several key goals:

• Extend the design life of the roadway to increase the time between reconstruction projects
• Decrease the overall rate of deterioration
• Create a consistent budget over the life of the program

The 2009 Village of Shorewood Pavement Management Program incorporated three capital management plans: the village’s existing Street Replacement Program; a companion Pavement Maintenance Program; and an Alley Maintenance Program which includes both reconstruction and maintenance components.

Plan Implementation & Evaluation

While the Pavement Management Plan provides yearly dates associated with the projects outlined in the Street Replacement Program and Pavement Maintenance Program, the plan is intended to be a long-term strategy. Specific projects may be moved from one year to the next, but it is the intention that either reconstruction or maintenance activities be completed on an annual basis.

The Department of Public Works is charged with the review of the plan on a regular and periodic basis to ensure the goals, objectives and long-term project plans are current and applicable. The plan will be evaluated in terms of pavement condition ratings, financial implications, and comparison to the ideal rate of deterioration.

The ultimate goal of cyclical maintenance - whether on streets or alleys - is to extend the time between reconstruction projects. As maintenance activities are generally less expensive than reconstruction, over time the annual road budget will decrease. A comprehensive program such as this is a cost-effective way for the village to address its pavement infrastructure.

Plan chapters from the original 2009 document can be downloaded below.

• Executive Summary (PDF)
• Background and Findings (PDF)
• Plan Performance (PDF)