Neighborhood Street Paving Program

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. Reclamation

Pavement reclamation is the process of rebuilding a road by recycling the existing asphalt. The road is broken up and mixed with existing base material. The product is compacted to create a stronger base and three inches of new pavement is placed on the new base. 

2. Shim Overlay

About 5-10 years later, 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.

3. Crack Sealing

Another 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.

4. Cold Planing

5-10 years after that, cold planing can be done as a process to remove paved areas if necessary. Asphalt milling can remove some or all of the existing pavement to be taken off-site to be recycled for future paving projects. The road is then shimmed with a layer of pavement to fill any ruts that may have developed. Once the shimming has been completed, another 1.5 inches of pavement is added to maintain the strength of the road for the final 10 years of its life cycle.

Neighborhood Street Paving Program

The City of Concord is continuing to invest in local neighborhood streets through our Neighborhood Street Paving Program. Since neighborhood streets have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years, the program is predicated on a 25 year paving cycle. Streets are scheduled based on priority defined by objective measures such as pavement condition and frequency of use.

FY 2018 Investments

The fiscal year 2018 budget approved by the Mayor and City Council continues to invest in our Neighborhood Street Paving Program with 0.5% of the 3.4% tax rate increase to be added to the current funding levels for local streets. The recommended capital improvement project for local streets (CIP #78) is made possible based upon continued funding from State Highway Block Grants and maintaining a 0.5% tax rate increase dedicated to paving neighborhood streets through fiscal year 2020.

The streets scheduled for paving for fiscal year 2018 have been approved in this year’s budget. View the list and map linked below of the scheduled streets.

• FY18 Paving Plan List (PDF)
• FY18 Paving Plan Map (PDF)

FY 2005-2017 Investments

For the past ten years, Concord made significant investments in our major arterial roads including: Langley Parkway, Manchester Street, Regional Drive, North State Street, Fisherville Road, Village Street, Clinton Street, Broadway, and Main Street. During the Great Recession, it was necessary for the City to reduce expenditures on local streets. Since fiscal year 2016 with improved economic conditions, the City has been able to refocus paving initiatives to local neighborhood streets having completed the necessary work on our major roads. The fiscal year 2016 budget included a bond authorization of $4 million for two years for paving of local neighborhood streets. The graph below illustrates investments made on our roadways since 2005, with major roads shown in red and local neighborhood streets depicted in blue.

Major and Minor Roadway Investments