The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was briefed on the city’s proposed Infrastructure Management Program and linked updates to the right‑of‑way management ordinance that staff said would help preserve pavement and better target repair funding.

Dustin Carley, director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, told the committee the city maintains about 11,700 lane miles of pavement and roughly 648 bridges and that pavement deterioration “is not linear” — preservation treatments in years five through 10 can prevent rapid decline into failed condition.

Carley said staff plans to adopt a new technical approach that combines ASTM D6433 (the traditional pavement condition‑index survey standard) with ASTM E3303, an automated cracking detection standard. “The ASTM 3303 is introduced as the key component in the technical evaluation,” Carley said, and staff is updating contracts for data‑collection and analysis to integrate the new logic.

Why it matters: Carley said the updated modeling and higher‑frequency data collection will let the city run scenario planning — for example, showing how different funding levels would change the percentage of lane miles in “good” condition — so council can set a policy target such as “70% of roadways in good or better” and budget accordingly.

Committee members pressed staff on how the new system would change costs and operations. Carley said the contract amendments approved on Aug. 27, 2025, added about $300,000 to improve analytics and software and that the additional cost for the enhanced modeling itself was “minuscule compared to” overall program spending. He said the city will need a correlation factor between the existing IMP ratings and the new rankings so results remain understandable to residents and council.

Right‑of‑way policy proposals: Carley and Sophia Harvey, city engineer, described specific ordinance changes staff recommends to reduce long‑term pavement damage caused by utility and construction activity in the public right of way. Proposed changes discussed with the committee include:
- A new definition and layout plan requirement for use of steel plates, a 14‑calendar‑day initial allowance and a per‑plate per‑lane fee (Carley suggested $2.50 per plate per lane per day as an example in the briefing table) with higher charges if closures exceed that window.
- Requiring permit applicants to identify the independent testing laboratory responsible for material testing and to submit test reports to the city after work is done.
- Clarifying standards for residential and commercial driveway approaches and for permit conditions, including fines or penalties if the right of way is not returned to full operation outside permitted hours.
- Replacing the current mechanism that can require a contractor to slurry‑seal a block when tapping a pavement with a city‑managed flat fee (Carley suggested an example figure of $6,000) that would fund a city program to perform block‑level restoration.

Harvey noted the current code requires steel plates to be marked with the name of the person performing the construction and a 24‑hour contact but said the ordinance lacks time limits and consistent labeling enforcement. “A lot of times, that information is gone once the project is done, and then we don't know who the plate belongs to,” Harvey said.

Committee concerns and clarifications: Members asked about enforcement and staffing. Council Member Mendelson said many infractions stem from subcontractors and questioned how inspectors could respond quickly. Carley replied that evaluating enforcement needs — including whether new FTEs are required — is part of the ordinance review. Council Member Blackman urged explicit protections for bike lanes and traffic‑control removal after work is finished. Carley said site restoration language will be revisited to require removal of traffic control items.

Bridges and emergency funding: Carley briefed the panel on the bridge program and TxDOT’s off‑system inspection role. He said the city keeps roughly $1 million in reserve for bridge emergencies and described recent required repairs at Keyst and Hillcrest after TxDOT inspections identified priority‑1 conditions.

Next steps and timeline: Staff recommended coordinating proposed ordinance language with the City Attorney’s Office, updating the IMP to incorporate the new ASTM E3303 logic and developing a pavement management policy for committee consideration. Carley said staff would prepare scenario analyses that show funding needed to reach different policy targets and return to the committee for further discussion.

Ending: Committee members generally supported moving toward a metric‑driven policy and asked staff to return with scenario results, more detail on enforcement options and a plan to publish a public, click‑through map of roadway condition data.