Howard Young, Newark's public works director, told the City Council on April 24 that the city uses a formal pavement management program to score streets and schedule maintenance and repairs across roughly 104.5 centerline miles of roadway. "The pavement management program is a systematic process used to assess, track, manage the condition of a pavement network," Young said, describing a 0'100 Pavement Condition Index, or PCI, that the city loads into the StreetSaver software recommended by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Young said the city's latest MTC data (2022) put Newark's PCI at 72, above the statewide average of 65. He explained the maintenance rationale: preventative treatments such as crack sealing and slurry seals are far less expensive than waiting until road bases fail and require overlays or reconstruction. "Either pay a little now or pay a lot later," Young said, summarizing the program's deterioration curve.

The presentation listed typical treatments (crack sealing, patch paving, slurry seal, microsurfacing, chip/cape seals, hot mix asphalt overlays, and full reconstruction), typical lifespans and examples from recent city projects. Young said slurry seal typically lasts about six years, crack sealing costs roughly $1.50 to $1.75 per square yard, and slurry seal application requires a resident notification program because treated streets are not drivable for about five hours.

Young described the city's roadway inventory as 104.5 centerline miles (about 162 lane miles), and explained that different street classifications (arterial, collector, residential) have different structural thicknesses and treatment needs. He described a sample project map for 2025 (slurry and microsurfacing) and an overlay program planned for 2026. He singled out Thornton Avenue as a multi-phase project: phase 1 (Highway 880 to Olive Street) has $2 million in congressionally directed community project funding from Rep. Ro Khanna and phase 2 has $1 million.

On funding, Young told council the city relies on state gas tax, local Measure B/Alameda County Transportation Commission distributions, the vehicle registration fee allocation, SB 1 funds, and occasional grants. He said staff budgeted about $4 million per year for 2024'26 because the pavement model shows that level is needed to hold PCI at current levels; prior annual spending averaged about $2.5 million.

Council members asked technical and operational questions. Council Member Quintancio asked whether sealants can be reapplied repeatedly; Young said slurry and microsurfacing are wearing courses and can be reapplied at intervals (roughly every six years), noting engineers decide "by eye" and on condition. Council Member Grindahl asked about heavy truck impacts (a single laden truck can equal many thousands of passenger cars in pavement wear) and the difference between privately maintained commercial parking areas and city streets; Young said mall roadways are private and not a city maintenance responsibility. Council members also discussed paint vs. thermoplastic striping; Young said the city is moving toward thermoplastic striping on resurfaced streets because it is more durable.

Young also noted Americans with Disabilities Act curb-ramp requirements apply when streets are upgraded and described the city's inspection and construction workflow and the role of the engineering division and consultants on large projects. He said assistant engineer Michael Carmen implements the annual paving projects and the city verifies computerized recommendations with staff field checks.

The presentation was informational only; no council action was required. Young said the city posts current-year paving project information on the Public Works section of the city website so residents can see planned work and notifications.