For the first time the city of Hutto will be able to take a proactive approach to street repair based on an objective, quantifiable data system.

In the spring Hutto hired construction and pavement engineering firm HVJ Associates to drive the city’s nearly 72 miles of roadway lanes block by block and assess pavement conditions. HVJ assigned a pavement condition rating number to each street that will be entered into a city-maintained database that will tell staff which streets to prioritize and what types of repairs are needed, according to HVJ documents.

“The system will allow us to say we have ‘X’ number of dollars to spend on street maintenance. We now can look at a list of projects and look at where we get the biggest impact,” Hutto Public Works Director Scot Stromsness said. “I think for us it becomes a really good tool because we’re really focusing the money where it needs to go.”

Before the new pavement-management system, which was completed this fall, Hutto City Council approved street maintenance projects according to roadway age and appearance, Stromsness said.

About 73 percent of Hutto’s neighborhood streets were rated “very good” through the system, which HVJ Project Manager Gina Ellison attributes to rapid growth and the substantial amount of new pavement and new housing communities in the area. About 45 percent of Hutto’s arterial and collector roadways were rated “good” or “very good,” meaning they require little to no maintenance. Arterials and collectors are large roadways and highways that often make up a small percentage of a city’s overall lane miles but carry the majority of  traffic and can be more expensive to repair, Ellison said. Portions of some Hutto streets, such as Mager Lane and Front Street, require reconstruction or major rehabilitation, according to HVJ documents.

Ellison said age, traffic and poor drainage can cause pavement deterioration and soil conditions in Hutto create particular challenges. In general, much of the soil east of I-35 in Central Texas is clay-based and expands with rainfall, which makes the land good for farming but can cause street and sidewalk damage, Ellison said.

“The soil condition over there can cause some unique distresses to Hutto. In the droughts [the soil] shrinks up, and when it rains it swells up,” she said. “Sometimes streets are a few years old, and they’re already showing distresses.”

Now that the pavement-management system is complete, Stromsness said the city’s next step is to train staff on how to update the system and to determine how the city’s $990,000 annual budget for engineering and street maintenance should be applied. Hutto paid $48,786 for the pavement-management study through HVJ and has the option to contract with the firm again in several years if a new study needs to be conducted, Stromsness said.

Hutto resident Chris Harris said he hopes as the city systematically repairs its roadways, it will give equal attention to sidewalks and street entrances. Harris, who has used a wheelchair for the past three years, said it is difficult for him to navigate the city because of damaged or missing sidewalks.

“If you go through Creekside Park to Fritz Park, there is a lot of damage to the sidewalks. [...] It’s all torn up; I can hardly get through there with a wheelchair,” Harris said. “If the elderly hit that, they’d fall—they’re going to hurt themselves. Same thing with people pushing strollers.”

Harris said when roads are resurfaced and the height difference between the street and a business driveway is slightly altered, the resulting bump can prove dangerous for people in wheelchairs as well as children and the elderly.

Stromsness said city staffers hope to complete pavement-management system training by spring, which he said is prime paving season.

“Now we can look at this [system] and tell the council how much money we need,” he said. “It really gives us the power of making decisions, and it gives council the ability to make an educated decision.”