“Our bigger problem with streets is the cost of paving is going up way more than funding. I would just estimate since the start of COVID to now, paving the streets more than 50% more expensive than it was. So almost a 10% average increase year over year is just what we’re seeing and the funds aren’t going up that much,” de Vinck told the Committee.
I’d be interested to know whether the majority of those cost increases came from labor or materials. Or, possibly, just additional graft off the top by the contractors if Pasadena doesn’t use in-house crews for their paving.
But cities like Pasadena have some of the easiest conditions possible for maintaining roads since they never (or only very rarely) get below freezing.