350

350 PRIORITY RATING SYSTEM (S)

350.1 Road Maintenance and Improvements. A priority rating system has been developed to provide a weighted numerical system for prioritizing improvements and maintenance efforts for roadways and right-of-ways currently maintained by the Road/Bridge Department. A similar system will be used for roadways not maintained by the Road/Bridge Department for the purposes of upgrading to County standards and tax-billing for improvements, etc. Priorities for roadways maintained by the county will not be intermingled with priorities for roads not maintained by the county.

Road maintenance and improvements will be evaluated using the following factors and formula:

PI - Priority Index

TF - Traffic Factor

FC - Functional Classification of Roadway

TR - School Bus Route

MF - Maintenance Factor

AF - Alignment Factor

MI - Miscellaneous - other considerations

PI = TF + FC + TR + MF + AF + [+ MI]

Traffic Factor (TF) - The traffic factor will be a measure of current average daily traffic as determined by the Road/Bridge Department by means of mechanical counts, visual counts, or their operations, and department staff experience with similar types of traffic patterns. Traffic factors will be updated every five (5) years or as needed. The traffic factor will be weighted as follows:

ADT TF - value

> 1000 8

350 - 999 6

200 - 349 4

100 - 199 2

< 100 0

Functional Classification (FC) - The functional classification indicates the character of use and purpose of the roadway and is an indicator of the relative importance of a roadway to the overall transportation network.

The functional classification will be weighted as follows:

Functional Classification FC

Type I Arterial 10

Type II Collector 8

Type III Local 6

Type IV Local 4

Type V Min. Maint. Rd. 2

Type VI Private 0

School Bus Route (TR) - School bus routes are an obvious concern for prioritizing maintenance and improvements for safety reasons. The School bus route factor will be weighted as follows:

School Bus Route TR

Yes 2

No 0

Maintenance Factor (MF) - Roads having high deferred maintenance costs must have a higher priority for repairs and improvements, while roads with low deferred maintenance costs may have a lower priority for repairs and improvements. An example would be a concrete street that needs some preventative maintenance that would be relatively inexpensive at this time compared to a very high replacement cost if the preventative maintenance is not performed.

Deferred Maintenance Cost MF

High 5

Moderately High 4

Average 3

Moderately Low 2

Low 1

NO Deferred Cost 0

Alignment Factor (AF) - The alignment factor takes into account the geometric problems of the roadway; vertical and horizontal geometric (sight distance), road width, road grades, etc. The alignment factor will be weighted as follows:

Sight Distance AF

250' 0

200' 1

150' 2

100' 3

50' 4

0' 5

Miscellaneous - Other Considerations (MI) - The danger of using a mathematical calculation for establishing priorities is that they will be taken too literally. Therefore other considerations will be taken into account in establishing priorities.

Many times situations arise that do not fit the parameters as outlined above. Significant cost savings may occur when an adjacent lower priority project is combined with a high priority project. Accident histories as provided by the Missouri Highway Patrol and Pettis County Sheriff's Department may dictate some adjustments to the priorities. It is also desirable to balance the distribution of improvements geographically within the county. Budgetary restraints may not allow for the highest priority projects to be completed, but may allow for 2 or 3 lower priority projects. For this reason the Road/Bridge Department and/or County Commission may be required to adjust the priorities by this miscellaneous factor.

350.2 Reserved.

350.2.1 Dust Control at Citizen Expense. The county cannot justify placing dust control on all county roadways for traffic safety, but recognizes that many residents, given the topography or location of their home in relation to the road may desire some relief from road generated dust. Roadways that have been treated for dust control have different maintenance requirements and it will be necessary therefore for the Road/Bridge Department to coordinate any dust control applications for private citizens.

Approximate cost of dust control chemical application can be obtained from the Road/Bridge Department office (660-826-7187) in April of each year. A preliminary cost estimate for a one-per-year application would be approximately $0.50 per lineal foot of roadway with an application width of 18' [1999 prices]. The minimum length of roadway to be treated at citizen's expense is 300'. Citizens wishing to pay for the application of dust control chemicals on their roadways must deposit the predetermined amount of money with the Road/Bridge Department before the application can be scheduled by the department.

No dust control products other than those approved by the Road and Bridge Department may be placed on the roadways without the express written consent of the department.

NOTE: Dust Oil is not permitted for dust control.

350.3 Brush Control. A priority rating system has likewise been developed to provide a weighted numerical system for prioritizing brush-cutting and vegetation control efforts for road right-of-ways currently maintained by the Road/Bridge Department.

Brush control and vegetation control maintenance will be evaluated using factors similar to those used for other roadway maintenance and improvements.

BI - Brush Index

TR - Traffic Factor