Pennsylvania Dirt, Gravel, and Low- Volume Road Maintenance Program 2016 Annual Summary Report

Transcription

1 Pennsylvania Dirt, Gravel, and Low- Volume Road Maintenance Program 2016 Annual Summary Report June 2017 Photo: A French Mattress, consisting of clean stone wrapped in separation fabric, is being installed in Wayne County to allow drainage to move under the road while providing structural support for traffic. 1

2 What is the DGLVR Program? Pennsylvania s Dirt, Gravel, and Low-Volume Road Maintenance Program provides education, technical assistance, and grant funding to local public-road-owning entities throughout the state. The program was expanded in 2014 to dedicate $20 million to unpaved roads and $8 million to paved low-volume roads traveled by fewer than 500 vehicles per day. The main focus of the program is the implementation of Environmentally Sensitive Maintenance Practices aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of local public roads, while reducing long-term maintenance costs. The PA State Conservation Commission (SCC) administers the program at the state level, and allocates funding to conservation districts in 65 counties throughout Pennsylvania. Public road-owning entities apply for grants to their conservation districts and work with them to complete projects. The Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies (Center) provides education, outreach, and technical assistance for the program. More information available at: Municipalities Certified to Apply Education of local road-owning entities has always been at the core of the program. The two-day Environmentally Sensitive Road Maintenance (ESM) training is a requirement for potential grant applicants before they are eligible to apply to their conservation district for funding. The training covers program basics such as application procedures, as well as in-depth examples of practices and projects employed by the program. After the funding increase in 2014, annual attendance peaked at 1,250. In 2015 and 2016, approximately 650 people attended a training each year. The map below shows municipalities that employ someone who is currently ESM certified as of 1/1/2017 (has attended a training since 2012). Twelve additional ESM trainings have been scheduled around the state for Municipalities with current certification to apply for funding (12/31/2016) This map shows the 1,209 municipalities who had an active ESM certification to apply for funding at the end of 2016 (indicating they have attended and ESM training or workshop recertification in the previous five years).

3 Financial Spotlight funding increase Program funding spent on completed projects per year. funding increase In-kind contributions on completed projects per year. Completed sites: Grant Spending In 2014, the program s annual allocation was increased from $4 million to $28 million, with $8 million of that being dedicated toward paved low-volume roads with less than 500 vehicles per day was the first construction season with this new funding, and project spending has increased significantly over the past 2 years. Districts spent nearly $17 million on 470 projects in 2016, a more than five-fold increase over historical annual spending. Completed sites: In-kind Contributions In-kind contributions are goods or services, typically provided by the grant recipient, that are not reimbursed through the program grant. In-kind contributions typically take the form of donated municipal labor or equipment use. While not a requirement, in-kind contributions continue to rise as more projects are completed each year. In 2016, in-kind contributions averaged $0.36 for every dollar of program project spending. funding increase Grant funding encumbered to active contracts per year. Contracted sites: Committed Funds Conservation districts continue to adapt and ramp-up project work following the 2014 Program funding increase. In addition to the 470 projects completed in 2016, there are an additional 500 projects under contract totaling $23.7 million (as of 1/31/2017). It looks like 2017 will continue to see an increase in project spending as districts work toward an equilibrium with the new funding. Grant Recipient Profiles DGLVR grant funding is open to any state or local public road-owning entity in Pennsylvania. Historically, approximately 96% of project grants have been received by townships. While townships are still the principle grant recipient by far, the dynamic is slowly changing to include more boroughs and cities. This is especially true for paved low-volume roads where opportunities exist for projects in more developed areas.

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5 Road Practice Spotlight Cumberland McKean Monroe Allegheny Fulton Cambria Drainage Culverts (Crosspipes): Why: The most basic tool used in the program to break up surface runoff volumes and encourage infiltration. 624 existing pipes replaced (465 D&G, 159 LVR) 866 new pipes installed (767 D&G, 99 LVR) That totals 5 miles of pipe end-to-end! Road Fill Why: Roads become entrenched over years of traffic, maintenance, and erosion, trapping drainage and act like streams. Often filling the road is the best long term solution. 293,000 tons of road fill added (265,000 on D&G, 28,000 on LVR) (10,000+ Tri-axle truck loads) That equals a football field, covered approximately 74 deep! Driving Surface Aggregate (DSA): Why: DSA is designed for maximum compaction to resist erosion and degradation. DSA has been shown to lengthen maintenance cycles and reduce dust and sediment runoff from unpaved roads. 227,000 tons of DSA placed (10,000+ Tri-axle truck loads) That equals a road 18 wide and 70 miles long! Underdrain Why: Underdrains are used to drain roadside springs and seeps to dry out the road. Underdrains improve the road while separating clean subsurface water from road surface drainage. 100,000 feet of underdrain installed (65,000 D&G, 35,000 LVR) That equals an underdrain from Harrisburg to Carlisle (19 mi). Stream Crossing Replacements Why: The program targets undersized stream culverts and bridges for replacement in reduce long-term maintenance and stream flow issues. See back panel for more details. 80 Stream Crossing Structures Replaced 41% round pipes, 28% squash pipes, 20% plate arch, 11% other

6 Stream Crossing Replacements In 2015, the DGLVR Program implemented a policy on the replacement of stream crossing structures such as pipes and bridges with program funds. Since stream crossing structures can get expensive quickly, the policy is intended to direct Program funding to locations where structure replacements provide environmental benefits to the stream. This is accomplished by directing funding to structures that are undersized compared to the natural bankfull width of the stream. Undersized stream crossing structures are prone to scour and erosion, require frequent maintenance, and often create barriers for fish and other aquatic life. Any new pipes or bridges funded through the program must accommodate the full bankfull width of the channel Before Before After A bottomless arch culvert was used to replace a failing undersized oval pipe in Snyder County. After A Geosynthetically Reinforced Soil bridge replaced an undersized and failing structure in York County. Other Notes from 2016 GIS System: Conservation Districts use a customized online Geographic Information System (GIS) to track project location, spending, and deliverables. GIS is used for all statewide reporting for the program. A public version of the GIS program is available at Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QAQC): The QAQC process visits individual conservation districts to review program administration and project implementation. Twenty-eight counties were visited in 2016, and next year will see the completion of all remaining counties for round two of QAQC visits that began in Workshop: Nearly 200 people attended the 2016 Annual Maintenance Workshop in York, PA in September. The workshop featured guest speakers and five bus trips to over 20 different field sites. Planning is currently underway for the 2017 Workshop to be held in Sayre, PA in northern Bradford County. Webinars and Roundtables: Program and center staff continue to encourage additional communication with and between conservation districts. Last year brought a variety of events designed to foster communication, ranging from topic-specific webinars, to roundtable discussions, to informal help sessions. Technical Assistance: With dirt and gravel projects becoming larger and more complex, and new low- volume road projects hitting the ground, on-site project technical assistance requests expanded greatly this year. Center staff conducted more than 100 quarry visits in 2016 to ensure quality aggregate. With a record high of over $23 million in current contracts, 2017 promises to be even busier. ESM Updates: Each winter brings the opportunity to update and expand the two-day ESM training. Updates included the replacement or addition of 100+ project pictures, and the expansion of several training chapters. This document was prepared jointly by the PA State Conservation Commission and the PSU Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies. Figures are based on GIS data supplied by Conservation Districts in January For more information, visit

7 Pennsylvania Dirt, Gravel, and Low-Volume Road Maintenance Program 20 th Anniversary ,835 Contracts have been completed 812 Municipalities have completed a contract Time flies when you re stopping mud! In the mid-1990s, a group of fishermen became upset when a summer thunderstorm passed through, mudding their local streams, and ruining their day s fishing. After some investigating, they realized that the roads themselves were the primary cause of the stream sediment in the largely forested watershed. Who in that group would have believed that a program they helped to create through Trout Unlimited, would generate more than $100 million for improving local roads and reducing stream pollution over the next 20 years? In the past 20 years: $72,000,000 spent on completed projects $37,000,000 contributed in-kind (51%) 3,835 contracts completed 16,000 pollution worksites identified 812 municipalities received funding 243 two-day ESM trainings held 10,165 ESM training attendees This 15-year-old project in Huntingdon County illustrates the long-term road improvement practices implemented by the program, in this case filling the road profile, adding shallow crosspipes, and driving surface aggregate.

8 Remembering the Past 1997 Trout Unlimited leads a Task Force to establish the program and identifies over 900 pollution sites in protected watersheds Trainings begin and first projects hit the ground Driving Surface Aggregate (DSA) developed for unpaved roads First Geographic Information System developed to track projects. Districts identify over 12,000 pollution sites on roads statewide. Task Force on Dirt and Gravel Road that established the program receives the 2000 PA Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. 900 sites in protected watersheds 2003 Program completes its 1,000 th project First round of Quality Assurance / Quality Control begins with visits to each conservation district to evaluate program implementation. Conservation districts complete a second statewide assessment of unpaved roads, identifying over 16,000 pollution sites. Paver-placement of DSA 2009 Program completes its 2,000 th project Second round of Quality Assurance / Quality Control visits begins Act 89 of 2013 increases funding from $4 million to $28 million and dedicates $8 million of that for paved low-volume roads. New Program Administrative Manual is approved, including a host of new policies on traffic counts, stream crossing replacement, and more The program s first paved low-volume road projects hit the ground Online Geographic Information System is developed for conservation districts to track project locations, spending, and deliverables. QA/QC county visit Completed LVR project 2016 Program completes its 3,000 th project Program s 20 th Anniversary, Planning for the future 16,000+ identified pollution sites Newly paved LVR Educational project site visit. Planning for the Future GIS project and data entry form Dirt and Gravel Projects: Since the 2014 funding increase, the average contract value has increased from $21,000 to $38,000. This increase is a reflection of the ability to fund larger, more complex, and more comprehensive projects than possible in the past with limited funding. Over 16,000 identified pollution sites remain statewide. Paved Low-Volume Projects: Districts are continuing to develop and adapt the paved low-volume road portion of their local programs. Paved low-volume roads bring many new challenges and opportunities such as increased off right-of-way influences; more urban settings; stormwater issues; a new set of increasingly urban municipal applicants; and determining policies on traffic counts, pavement costs, and other issues. CD Capacity: An increase in funding and more complex projects mean an increased workload at conservation districts. Districts are working to meet this new demand, with many newly hired Dirt and Gravel Road Specialists being hired around the state. Educational Efforts: Increasing educational efforts, both from the state to districts, and from districts to local applicants, have been helping to get quality projects on the ground. Statewide Accountability: With more funding comes more accountability. Commission staff have ramped up their Quality Assurance / Quality Control efforts to review district programs, and are increasing financial accountability efforts. This report was prepared jointly by the PA State Conservation Commission and the PSU Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies. Figures are based on GIS data supplied by Conservation Districts in January For more information, visit