Agenda - Public Works Committee - 08/20/2024

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SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION. Trails are a valued recreational and transportation feature of Ramsey, and provide myriad benefits for residents, serving a broad demographic of the community. Depending on the type of use, bituminous trails may serve equally well two decades after construction as when initially constructed. However, pavement imperfections may actually negatively impact the experience of users when biking or walking if the surface is rough, or if visual connection to the pavement must be maintained to prepare for bumps, cracks or dodge potholes. In extreme cases, pavement conditions like potholes or obstacles in the clear zone alongside trails may create unsafe conditions. Therefore, this Trail Maintenance Policy sets forth the means and methods to maintain safe trail conditions, produce quality of trail user experiences, and protect the community's investment in the infrastructure over time. SECTION 2. GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT. At the time of adoption of this Trail Maintenance Policy the city of Ramsey has over 80 miles of bituminous trails, all of which will require varying degrees of maintenance into the future—and, additional trails are added to the system in most years. As general matter, the goal of this policy is to develop and sustain maintenance practices that keep trail conditions in a good to average pavement rating status or better. Safety shall be the primary focus and the city should continue to budget a consistent amount each year, such that staff can build a trail maintenance program around this amount that can be planned for on an annual basis. SECTION 3. GENERAL MAINTENANCE GOALS AND INTENT. For 2024, the trail maintenance allocation is $120,000. This line item within the General Fund has increased$5,000 to$15,000+ each year as part of an informal trail maintenance plan—yielding one to three miles of trail overlaid or the subject of a reconstruct in a few instances. While the annual increases have risen 5-10% in many years, the miles of trail receiving maintenance treatments have not increased due to ordinary annual inflation associated with contracted services. Now that the city is wholly within the second decade of an informal maintenance plan, this new Trail Maintenance Policy should lead the city to evaluating past practices and funding, to align more so to with on-the-ground bituminous maintenance that addresses 5% to 8% of the system each year, versus the historical average of about 1.5% or less—this, because it does not appear existing funding levels are keeping pace with the aging pavement conditions and demand for resurfacing trails. 3