The asphalt pavement on Longmere Drive is in poor condition and in need of repair. Per the City’s pavement rating software, 9 out of the 10 sections on Longmere Drive have a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 27 or less. Based on these PCI ratings, the majority of Longmere Drive can be classified as either a "Poor to Very Poor" condition or as a "Failed" condition. Per City records, the last time that Longmere Drive had major street work performed on it was 23 years ago in the summer of 1986. A process called In-Place Cold Recycling was used to restore the pavement to good condition at that time. Cold In-Place Recycling (CIPR) is an on-grade method of pavement rehabilitation that consists of milling the existing asphalt concrete pavement to a depth between 2 to 4 inches; mixing the cold milled material with emulsified recycling agent and other additives as needed; spreading and compacting the recycled mixture; and overlaying the recycled surface with a new layer of hot mix asphalt (HMA). Foamed asphalt can be used as a recycling agent instead of asphalt emulsion, but fine aggregates may need to be added to the recycled mixture. Based on recent pavement cores taken on Longmere Drive, the in-place cold recycled layer of the asphalt pavement has lost cohesion which reduces the overall strength of the asphalt and also allows water to penetrate the subbase easier causing the pavement to deteriorate at a faster rate. On top of this, the asphalt pavement’s surface course is due for resurfacing based on a 15 to 20 year life span for surface course asphalt.

Based on this data and other traffic volume factors, it was determined that reconstructing the pavement on Longmere Drive was a better option than resurfacing since outside funding was secured by the City. Longmere Drive is functionally classified as a collector street which means that it has a higher traffic volume since it collects traffic from several local (residential) streets. Pavement reconstruction will provide the strength and integrity needed in an asphalt pavement to handle the larger traffic volume on this street.

This project is being funded using Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) funds along with funds from the City’s Annual Street Program. The additional OPWC funds will allow the City to replace the asphalt pavement at a cost similar to that of a typical mill and resurface project.