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Cincinnati is changing how it packages street-paving projects in an effort to attract more contractors and lower rehabilitation costs. City officials say increased competition has helped reduce projected paving costs and could allow the city to rehabilitate more lane miles with its existing budget. Cincinnati’s FY2027 budget provides about $22 million for street rehabilitation, while an additional $10 million in FY2028 infrastructure funding could support another 21 lane miles of rehabilitation.
Cincinnati is restructuring its street-paving projects to lower costs and allow the city to rehabilitate more lane miles with available funding.
The city expects the changes to increase competition among contractors and reduce the cost of full street rehabilitation.
Cincinnati officials say the approach could help the city move closer to its long-standing goal. That goal is to rehabilitate at least 100 lane miles of streets each year.
Cincinnati street paving costs have increased
The cost of rehabilitating Cincinnati streets has increased substantially in recent years, limiting how many lane miles the city can address with its annual budget.
City data shows the cost of full street rehabilitation rose from about $274,000 per lane mile in FY2018 to $330,000 in FY2020. In fact, the cost reached about $500,000 per lane mile by FY2023, according to the city’s street-rehabilitation data.
The increase made it difficult for the city to maintain its previous pace of street rehabilitation.
Cincinnati’s street network includes nearly 2,935 lane miles, and the city typically rehabilitates about 50 to 100 lane miles each year, according to the Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE).
Also read: Cincinnati to receive $72.1 million from railway trust for infrastructure in FY2028
City changes how paving projects are bid
DOTE Director Greg Long said the city changed how it packages street-rehabilitation projects before putting them out for bids.
“My budget was getting wiped out with the cost per lane mile, so that reduced my capacity,” said Long.
Previously, Cincinnati sometimes combined projects into larger packages. That approach could limit the number of contractors able to compete. The city has begun separating some work, including concrete-related improvements such as curb and sidewalk rehabilitation.
The goal is to make projects accessible to a larger pool of contractors.
Long said the city had previously reached a point where only about two contractors were regularly bidding on its rehabilitation work. However, more competition can give the city more opportunities to receive lower bids.
A recent paving project attracted five bidders. Long described this as the first time in about a decade that the project received that level of competition.
The changes have helped bring the projected cost of a lane mile down significantly from recent levels, according to city officials.
Cincinnati expects more street work
Cincinnati’s FY2027 budget includes about $22.02 million for street rehabilitation. There is also an expected $800,000 in outside grants.
The city expects the funding to support full rehabilitation or preventive maintenance on about 70 lane miles during the fiscal year.
The city has a long-standing goal of rehabilitating at least 100 lane miles annually. This does not include preventive maintenance.
That goal has become increasingly difficult as construction costs have risen.
Cincinnati’s street-rehabilitation program previously completed 96 lane miles in FY2018. The number fell to 30 lane miles in FY2023 and an estimated 20 lane miles in FY2024, according to city data.
Railway funding could add more lane miles
The city’s street program could receive another boost from the Cincinnati Southern Railway Trust.
The trust approved a $72.1 million distribution for FY2028, including an additional $10 million that could be used for existing city-owned infrastructure.
City officials told the trust that the additional $10 million could allow Cincinnati to rehabilitate another 21 lane miles and perform preventive maintenance on 25 additional lane miles.
The money is restricted by state law to maintaining or replacing existing city-owned infrastructure.
The City Council will ultimately determine how the additional funding is spent.
The additional money could give Cincinnati more capacity to address deteriorating streets. Meanwhile, officials continue looking for ways to reduce construction costs.
Street conditions remain a city priority
Street maintenance has remained a major concern among Cincinnati residents.
The city’s street-rehabilitation program uses the Pavement Condition Index, or PCI, to evaluate pavement conditions. The scale runs from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better pavement conditions.
Cincinnati classifies a PCI between 50 and 67 as fair condition.
The city has said maintaining a fair citywide pavement condition is one of its street-maintenance goals, along with rehabilitating at least 100 lane miles each year.
By reducing project costs and increasing contractor competition, city officials hope to stretch available infrastructure funding further and complete more street work each year.
FAQs
Why did Cincinnati’s paving costs increase?
City data shows the cost of street rehabilitation increased substantially over several years. Officials have said higher costs reduced the number of lane miles the city could rehabilitate with its available funding.
Why does contractor competition matter for Cincinnati’s paving program?
City officials say having more contractors bid on projects can give Cincinnati more competitive prices. DOTE Director Greg Long said the city had previously seen only about two contractors regularly bid on some rehabilitation work.
What could the additional $10 million mean for Cincinnati streets?
City officials told the Cincinnati Southern Railway Trust that the additional funding could support rehabilitation of 21 more lane miles and preventive maintenance on another 25 lane miles.
