Stay Informed: Learn About El Paso County's Pavement Quality

Pavement Condition

El Paso County’s transportation network consists of more than 2,100 centerline miles of public roadway, ranging from major thoroughfares in urban areas to rural gravel roads and neighborhood streets and cul-de-sacs.

El Paso County Department of Public Works maintains over 1,100 centerline miles of paved roads, which equates to over 2,300 lane miles. 225 of the 1,100 centerline miles are chip sealed. Centerline miles include both sides of the road, whereas lane miles are the individual lanes (2 or 4 lanes depending on the road).

In 2018, a consultant surveyed the roads, and data was collected and analyzed on 2,321 lane miles of asphalt pavements. Visual data was analyzed on 2,073 lane miles of gravel roads.

Information gathered included the Surface Distress Index (SDI) and the Ride Condition Index (RCI), which are used to calculate the Pavement Quality Index (PQI).

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) provides a numerical rating for the condition of road segments within the road network, where 0 is the worst possible condition (impassible), and 100 is the best (perfect condition).

The PCI tells public works officials the current condition of a road and the anticipated rate of deterioration of that road over time. The PCI values are used in prioritizing, funding, and executing maintenance and rehabilitation programs.

In order to determine the health or condition of the streets, the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is used. The PCI is a 0-100 rating scale based on the physical and structural condition of a road:

  • PQI scores of 70 to 100 are considered “satisfactory or good”. These are newly built or resurfaced roads that show little or no distress.
  • PQI scores of 50 to 69 are considered “fair” with only slight or moderate distress, requiring primarily preventative maintenance.
  • PQI scores of 25 to 49 are considered “poor” and are worn to where restoration may be needed to prevent further deterioration.
  • PQI scores of 0 to 24 are considered “serious” and may require full reconstruction.

Road Classifications

Cloverleaf Road PQI 50
Cloverleaf Road has a PQI score of 50.
Sun Hills Drive PQI 65
Sun Hills Drive has a PQI score of 65.
Meridian Road PQI 70
Meridian Road has a PQI score of 70.

The pavement network is composed of different classifications such as arterials, collectors, and residential (local) streets.

Arterials are characterized by higher speeds, more truck, bus, and automobile traffic and typically have four lanes or more.

Collectors function to “collect” traffic from residential streets and funnel them to arterials.

Residential streets (local) are typically two lanes and have much lower speeds and traffic.

2018 Road Status

The graphic above shows, of the 284 lane miles of arterial road, 231.6 miles are above standard, 17% do not meet the 70 PQI desired minimum.

Of the 872 lane miles of collector road, 607 miles are above standard, 30.4% do not meet the 65 PQI desired minimum

Of the 1,165.3 lane miles of residential or local road, 872 miles are above the 50 PQI standard, 29% do not meet the 50 PQI desired minimum.

Find the Pavement Quality Index (PQI) of Your Road

With our new interactive map, you’re able to find your street’s PQI.

  1. Click on the blue button below
  2. Type your street into the interactive map’s search bar
  3. A legend will appear with the street name, PQI, Minimum Desired PQI, and road classification
  4. A print option is also available

Historical Funding

When funding is limited, like in El Paso County, decisions must be made as to which departments get the financial resources.

When the distributed finances reach the Department of Public works, more decisions are made regarding which projects and which roads will receive maintenance or repairs.

The Department of Public Works performs pavement maintenance each year through private contracts and utilization of Department staff.

Funding for pavement maintenance typically comes from a combination of grants and local, state, and federal sources. These funds are used for all road-related expenses, not just pavement maintenance.

Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA)

The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) is a collaborative effort among five regional governments, including the cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, El Paso County, and the towns of Green Mountain Falls and Ramah.

The PPRTA collects a voter-approved 1 percent sales tax to improve and maintain roads and support public transit. The PPRTA allocates 35% of its budget for maintenance and is the county’s primary funding source for pavement maintenance projects.

Projects include various infrastructure maintenance such as asphalt paving, milling and overlay, chip and slurry seal, bridge repair, maintenance of signs, signals, and pavement markings, and concrete work such as replacement curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and pedestrian ramps.

El Paso County spent $3,865,139 for the 2018 PPRTA Asphalt Rehabilitation Program. That amount was used for paving 23.6 centerline miles of roadway.

In addition to paving these roads, they were also patched, striped, shouldered, and thermoplastic street markings were installed. ADA improvements were also completed, and sub-grade repairs were performed as necessary.

Road and Bridge Fund

The Road and Bridge Fund provides for the construction and maintenance of County roads and bridges financed by property taxes, highway user taxes, and other revenues restricted to use on roads and bridges.

In 1992 one tax dollar collected purchased one dollar of construction. Due to inflation, that same dollar will likely purchase less than 20 cents of goods and labor by 2034.

The Road and Bridge Fund allocates funds to construct and maintain roadway-specific projects such as repaving roads, repairing and replacing bridges, snow removal operations, drainage maintenance, replacing culverts, and other infrastructure maintenance projects.

The average Single-Family Residence in El Paso County pays an estimated $7.09 in Road and Bridge taxes.

Click to go to the Assessor’s webpage to see how much you are paying to the El Paso County Road and Bridge fees. (Put your address into the page’s search bar.)

Funding Implications

There are significant financial implications to the PQI. Obviously, pavements deteriorate over time. The deterioration is slow at first, but then accelerates when the PQI drops below 70. As the pavement deteriorates, the cost of repair also increases rapidly. If there is inadequate funding to maintain streets in their current condition, we can safely conclude that the unfunded backlog will grow rapidly in the future.

El Paso County faces significant challenges in the future when it comes to roads, considering today’s realities. Three alternative funding scenarios were developed to identify potential future outcomes.

Scenario 1: To maintain the County’s current budget of $10M/Yr. with a 4% annual increase is a total of $120 million over the next ten years.

Scenario 2: To maintain the current average PQI of 68, which is considered in “Fair” condition, will cost $210 million over the next ten years. This will require an additional $10 million dollars to the annual budget.

Scenario 3: To improve the pavement network’s condition with 0 deficiency and to maintain it, will cost $364 million over the next ten years. This will require an additional $24.4 million dollars to the annual budget.

2018 EPC PQI Scenerio Graph