20-year Street Maintenance Forecast

The City of Des Moines maintains the city streets on a continuing basis to reduce the need for total reconstruction.   Our goal is to maintain at least 85% of our streets in good or very good condition every year.  We use a computer model to calculate this goal. The model looks at the following facts:

• Current and projected extent of street defects
• Current and projected traffic
• Actual deterioration rates
• Repairs needed to address the defects
• Inflation and discount rates applicable to all expenses generated by related work
• Available budget

The evaluation results in a 20-year maintenance plan.  Public Works uses that plan to define a 5-year and an annual construction program.