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The City of Prior Lake has developed a Pavement Management Program (PMP) designed to protect and extend the useful life of paved surfaces throughout the City. With careful planning and diligent effort, the goal is to maintain the highest performance standards while reducing the overall long-term costs of managing the City’s street system.

The City utilizes Cartegraph, a specialized software application which allows staff to identify, inventory and track the growth of the street system, its structural performance, and overall condition. Annual inspections are used to rate the physical conditions of the street sections. Based on the information gathered from these inspections, Cartegraph assigns an Overall Condition Index (OCI) from 1 to 100 to identify surfaces most in need of improvements. 

Average target OCI values have been set at 75 for collector streets and 60 for local streets. Using these average target OCI values as a guide, the City annually reviews the overall street system to identify upcoming improvement projects.  Improvements can range from sealcoating to a complete reconstruction with utility upgrades.

The following improvements are part of the City’s PMP:

Pothole Patching - This is the temporary patching of potholes using hot or cold mix asphalt, or spray patching.

Seal Coat and Crack Seal – Seal coat is the surface application of an asphalt emulsion followed by the placement of small chip rock. This process creates a wear-resistant coating that protects pavements from oxidation and the effects of moisture. Crack sealing fills visible cracks and curb lines to prevent water intrusion into the subgrade.  This maintenance typically occurs in early June each year.

Mill and Overlay (Resurfacing) – This process removes the top 2 inches of distressed or cracked pavement and replaces it with a new layer of hot mix asphalt.

Reclaim / Rehabilitation – This process is used when a complete reconstruction is unnecessary, but the road surface is in need of more improvement than sealcoating or resurfacing can provide. In this process, a reclaim machine removes the entire full-depth road surface and grinds the asphalt to a specific gradation that can be reused as a base for a new full-depth road surface.

Reconstruction – This process involves the full reclaim process, along with other infrastructure improvements such as water main, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and/or small utility upgrades. It also involves complete curb and gutter removal and replacement. All yards and driveways that are disrupted during a reconstruction are restored to a comparable state upon completion of the street reconstruction.

Resources

How Franchise Fees will be used to help fund the PMP 
Planned construction projects - interactive map
View an informative video from MnDOT about gravel road maintenance
View an informative video from MnDOT about paved road maintenance