Neighborhood Street Paving Program

The City of Concord continues to invest in the maintenance and paving of City streets. Preserving road conditions provides a high quality of life for the community. Since streets have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years, paving is predicated on a 30-year paving cycle. There are several stages to the life cycle of a road that determines the best practice to maintain it. Learn more about the life cycle of a road by viewing the paving cycle process at the bottom of this page.

Priority continues to be given in local neighborhood streets through our Neighborhood Street Paving Program. Since fiscal year 2016, economic conditions have improved to allow the City to be able to refocus paving initiatives to local neighborhood streets after having completed necessary work on major arterial roads. The Neighborhood Street Paving Program is returning the quality of life to local neighborhoods of our community. We hope to accomplish this goal with the rest of the community as the program continues, provided the community continues to commit funds towards this effort. 

Streets are scheduled for paving based on priority defined by objective measures such as pavement conditions, frequency of use, and available funding. The recommended capital improvement project for streets (CIP #78) is made possible based upon continued funding.

Find paving updates on Concord General Services’ social media and in the City Manager’s Newsletter. View the latest newsletter on the City’s homepage at www.concordnh.gov.

FY 2022 Paving

The fiscal year 2022 (July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022) budget approved by the Mayor and City Council invests $2.38 million in street paving and our Neighborhood Street Paving Program. A tentative schedule of streets approved for paving in 2022 is listed below:

*This schedule is tentative and is subject to change.

Granite Curb Cost-Sharing Program

Residents will be invited to participate in a voluntary granite curb cost-sharing program when streets are scheduled for pavement reclamation. Residents are not obligated to participate. Residents and the City will share the cost of the program. The curb cost-sharing program is only available for streets scheduled for reclamation. Each property will be inspected on a case-by-case basis for approval of granite curbing. The City reserves the right to not install granite curbing based upon certain situations, including drainage concerns. If a resident is interested in participating in the program and their area is approved for curbing, their cost must be paid in full prior to installation. Curbing is installed along the entire property line that abuts the street. More information will be provided directly to residents when notified of pavement reclamation.

Paving Cycle Process

A road has a typical life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Different methods of maintenance and repair are taken throughout a road’s life cycle to make needed repairs. Pavement life is impacted by many factors: traffic volume, vehicle loads (weight), environmental conditions, maintenance, etc. The more a road is maintained, the longer its life cycle will be. The best practice is to carry out the paving process through its life cycle (with the funding available) to get the full value out of the initial investment. A typical life cycle of a road or street is as follows:

1. Pavement Reclamation

Pavement reclamation is the process of rebuilding a road by recycling the existing asphalt. The road is broken up and mixed with the existing base material. The product is compacted to create a stronger base and three inches of new pavement is placed on the new base. The reclamation process includes the lowering of all catch basins and manholes, grinding the road surface to a 1’ depth, grading the road, and putting down a base layer of pavement. Then the existing granite curb will be reset and any new requested curb will be installed. Existing sidewalks will then be repaired or replaced, manholes and catch basins will be reset, and then the final pavement overlay is applied.

2. Crack Filling

About 5-10 years later, as the road starts to depreciate, the road may begin to crack. A more cost-effective way to maintain the lifespan of the road is to fill the cracks with hot asphalt to prevent water from filtering through the road and creating further damage.

3. Shim Overlay

After the reclamation process in about 5-10 years, another inch of asphalt is laid over the existing paved surface. This additional layer strengthens the initial three inches of pavement to extend the life of the road. The shim/overlay process involves putting down a shim course of pavement to get the road back to an even surface, raising manhole and catch basin covers, and then putting down a 1” final overlay of pavement, followed by a 2’ wide gravel shoulder where there isn’t any curbing in place.

4. Cold Plane & Overlay

5-10 years after that, cold plane and overlay can be placed in part of a process to remove paved areas if necessary. The cold planing and overlay process includes asphalt milling to remove parts of the pavement, shimming with a layer of pavement to fill any ruts that may have developed, raising manhole and catch basin covers, and then placing a 1” final overlay of pavement to maintain the strength of the road for the final 10 years of its life cycle. Finally, a 2’ wide gravel shoulder is placed where curbing is not already in place.