Trail users may notice specialty outfitted bicycles with digital cameras over the next two weeks on the River’s Edge Trail.
The bikes are used by Roadway Asset Services of Austin, Texas to collect imagery of the pavement along the length of the trail.
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The project is part of the city public works division’s contract with RAS to collect data for an overall condition index study of the trail, and the larger city streets network.
RAS operates a fleet of sophisticated data collection vehicles equipped with an array of precision instrumentation and data collection equipment that helps state and local transportation agencies inventory and manage transportation infrastructure, facilities and assets.
For questions about the vehicles or the project, contact public works engineering at 406-771-1258.
City Commissioners approved a $88,800 contract amendment during their Dec. 17 meeting for the road overall condition index project.
During scoping of the project initially, the city requested that the contractor include some ADA review options, but they were more expensive than available grant funding at the time, according to the city public works department.
After the contract was awarded, additional federal funds became available so the city is amending the contract to include the inventory of adjacent infrastructure, including corners and alley aprons, according to public works.
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In July 2024, commissioners awarded a $249,810 contract to Roadway Asset Services for the project.
RAS is surveying pavement conditions of all city-maintained streets, curbs, gutters and ADA ramps, plus the River’s Edge Trail, city staff said last summer.
The city street division maintains about 393 miles of streets and alleys within the city limits, according to the city.
The company is conducting a field study, reviewing and analyzing data, and inputting data into Cartegraph, the city’s asset management system.
The change order covers work to be completed by RAS, reducing the workload on city staff to complete the ADA inventory and demand scoring required by the federally mandated public right-of-way ADA transition plan, according to city staff.
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The amendment will add additional ADA components to the overall condition index, maintained by the city, to better comply with those federal requirements, according to public works, and “city staff time can be focused on larger reaching projects that will include utilizing the information obtained from RAS’ completed product.”
The inventory will help city staff forecast and prioritize maintenance and repair requirements while complying with federal requirements.
RAS uses vans with digital cameras to collect imagery on all pavement and above ground transportation-related asses within the right of way.
The vans traveled all city-maintained roads over the summer to conduct the inventory.
The city already tracks street conditions and the RAS inventory will augment and update that data “and give us a blueprint to repeat this work in the future,” Gaub told The Electric in August. “This is not an annual process, but we are looking at adding this to a routine schedule in the future, possibly validating the data every few years.”
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Once RAS has finished collecting data and imported it into the city’s Cartegraph system, Gaub said staff will present the information to commissioners and work on setting a defined level of service.
“With a defined level of service, budgets can be aligned to address street network needs. However, some perspective that is important today is that costs have risen exponentially over the last few years due to inflation and supply chain issues, over which the city has no control. Also, the city’s street network has increased 28 percent in the last 50 years, while the city population has only increased approximately 5 percent. All of these factors mean funding levels via street assessments are not keeping up with funding requirements to maintain the citizens’ streets,” Gaub told The Electric on Aug. 23.
