Page 20 - The City of Greensboro Conditions and Trends

CITY OF GREENSBORO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONDITIONS & TRENDS

 Cities can monetize an existing asset through privatization of infrastructure systems or subsystems, potentially
providing for its ongoing maintenance. However, privatization can also be highly contentious, and there are few
unqualified examples of long-term success.
 Some cities have found success by implementing road diets and/or “right-sizing” roadways. In many cases city
streets were originally constructed to interstate highway standards, or greater, with excessively wide lanes or more
lanes than needed to serve actual traffic volume. Narrowing and/or eliminating lanes can reduce long-term
maintenance and replacement costs. This approach implies a change of focus from trying to accommodate only the
free-flow of auto traffic to trying to ensure safe, comfortable mobility choices for all users.
 Growth on the urban fringe, especially large lot single-family residential development, imposes significant costs on
cities due to the infrastructure needed to serve outlying areas. Encouraging infill development and discouraging
fringe growth can significantly improve the long-term cost outlook for maintaining and ultimately replacing
infrastructure systems. Infill development maximizes usage of existing infrastructure investments, rather than
requiring new investments. This can result in greater property tax revenue per acre served, which can better
facilitate repair and replacement of existing infrastructure systems.
 Investing in development of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure has been demonstrated to provide overall better
quality of service in the transportation system with a lower total cost per mile, greater economic impact per mile,
reduced demand for private motor vehicle use, and lower ongoing maintenance costs.
 Similarly, providing a high quality mass transit system reduces private motor vehicle traffic at a lower overall cost of
operation per passenger mile than the construction and maintenance costs of adding roadway capacity.

What This Means for Greensboro

A critical element of Greensboro’s public infrastructure are the roadway bridges in or near the central business district.
Many of these bridges are over 40 years old and will be in need of replacement in the next 10 to 20 years. For some of
these bridges, replacement cost, in conjunction with other factors may lead to a decision to remove the structure and
reconnect the roadways with an at-grade intersection. A notable example of the consequences of inadequate infrastructure
maintenance is the 2007 collapse of the 50-year old I-35 bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, which resulted in
the deaths of 13 people and injuries to 145 others. While not all types of infrastructure have the same potential for
catastrophic impacts on safety and health, this example makes clear the importance of prioritizing and adequately
budgeting in advance needed maintenance and replacement.

During the Great Recession and subsequent years, reduced municipal revenues led Greensboro to make budget cuts
throughout the organization, including deferral of infrastructure maintenance in some cases. Deferring maintenance work
can help a city ease budget constraints in the short term. However, as the overall condition of these assets continues to
decline from lack of maintenance, the need for increased maintenance spending grows. This approach can lead to an
extended “catching up” period and may hasten replacement needs in subsequent years, if maintenance funding is not
restored in a timely manner.

In order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and promote ongoing economic vitality, Greensboro will
need to continue taking proactive steps to inspect, maintain, and replace components of its infrastructure systems before
they reach structural or functional obsolescence.

DRAFT -20- March 15, 2018