Bettendorf will patch main roads

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By David Heitz | Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:45 PM CDT | () comments

The Bettendorf roads outlined in red show some of the major repair projects planned in that community. Buy this Photo

There will be orange cones aplenty in Bettendorf this summer.

The city will embark on an ambitious, $2.3 million push this construction season to patch its major arterials, most of which took a beating during the unusually harsh winter.

“It’s not like we’re throwing money away,” Mayor Mike Freemire said. “We knew our arterials were deteriorating, but last winter just really showed us how much.”

The city usually budgets $250,000 for springtime patching. After surveying the thoroughfares in recent weeks, however, city workers found $4 million worth of needed patching repairs.

Bettendorf recently sold $15 million in bonds, and the council will use $1.25 million of that for the extra patching. An additional $800,000 already had been budgeted in the city’s capital improvement program, which is separate from the patching fund.

City Administrator Decker Ploehn said patching problems will prove to be unscheduled budget pitfalls for years to come if the city does not come up with a long-term plan soon.

“It’s all coming due,” he said. “Our arterials were built 35 to 40 years ago, all at about the same time, when we were growing rapidly, and now these streets’ life cycle is over.”

During an informal presentation last week, Ploehn proposed patching the city’s main routes — Crow Creek Road, Devils Glen Road, Middle Road, Spruce Hills Drive, Utica Ridge Road, Grant and State streets and others — but coming up with a 10-year plan for rebuilding the thoroughfares at the same time.

Ploehn expects it will cost $50 million over 10 years to get the job done, but it would save money in the long run by eliminating the need for patching. Roads built in Bettendorf today are constructed at a much higher standard than in the past — complete with a drainable base, which prevents potholes — and new construction will last several times longer than a patch, Ploehn said.

Ploehn said the City Council will have to decide whether to raise taxes or reprioritize its capital improvement spending to decide how to pay for the long-term repairs.

Alderman Patricia Malinee, 4th Ward, said she would have scoffed if she had been told last fall of the need to spend so much money on street repairs.

“After seeing the roads and driving them after this winter, I think it’s a great idea,” she said. “How we actually get the funding is going to be a question for me, and that will determine how I vote.”

David Heitz can be contacted at (563) 383-2202 or dheitz@qctimes.com.