Paving Program

See an interactive page about creating the annual paving list here.

Transportation employs a vendor to evaluate our pavement condition every two years. The condition is reported as Pavement Condition Index (PCI) and ranges from a high of 100, good, to a low of 0, failed. The Division conducted the most recent pavement condition evaluation in FY21, and the Division will repeat the evaluation this fiscal year (FY23). Notably, only 50.2% of the street pavement in the City has a PCI in the "Good" or "Satisfactory" range. Neighborhoods with the lowest average PCI are prioritized for paving.

Transportation staff also reviews median household income estimates from the Census Bureau to identify low-income areas. Low-income neighborhoods having the lowest average PCI receive priority for paving. Street paving in these communities could have a more significant impact on neighborhood success than similar improvements elsewhere, while degraded paving conditions have a disproportionately negative impact.

Transportation staff coordinates paving plans with the project plans of Transportation's traffic engineering staff, other City departments and divisions, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and local utilities such as Roanoke Gas and the Western Virginia Water Authority. Based on the timelines of these other projects, neighborhood paving may be accelerated or delayed. Transportation staff prioritizes paving for neighborhoods targeted for Community Development Block Grant funding to enhance the impact of those target area projects.

Sometimes streets stand out as critical for paving based on the volume of potholes repaired by Transportation's Street Maintenance crew. Staff is alerted to the need for pothole repairs through phone calls, the citizen request portal, or the iRoanoke app. This metric is utilized primarily to prioritize arterial and collector street paving rather than neighborhood street paving.

Transportation staff incorporates all of the above information into the decision-making process. The final annual paving list is the result of much give-and-take and balance between needs and fiscal realities.