The city's engineering department is in the process of developing the coming year's road program, and that means scaling a large list of city roads in need of repair down to a smaller list that can actually fit into the program's budget, proposed at $1 million.

Creating the road program is a mix of selecting projects that will piggyback on outside federal and state funds and assessing the level of maintenance needed for the remaining roads, said city engineer Bill Lupien.

“We drive through every city street every year,” Lupien said. “Some of the roads that we saw were distressed (last year) became a lot more distressed. Now they need to be done sooner rather than later.”

At Thursday's Auburn City Council meeting, Lupien will present this year's proposed road-improvement program. The council will also hear a first reading of a bond ordinance that would allow the city to borrow $1 million to finance it.

One priority this year is Loop Road between Genesee and North streets, which would use funds from the program to help the city match a $250,000 grant from the Department of State for the upcoming Owasco Riverfront Revitalization project.

The city's annual road program covers varying levels of maintenance including milling and overlay, heater scarifying, patching and crack sealing at different cost levels.

Major road reconstruction projects would eat up a significant portion of the city's annual budget for improvements, so many of these large projects are made part of a long-term plan taking advantage of state and federal grant money. Thus some of the rougher roads needing repair, like East Genesee and York streets, take a little longer to get under way, but are funded 85 to 90 percent with state and federal grants.

“It's a long, lengthy process to utilize that money,” Lupien said. “But you can't beat doing a project for 85 to 90 cents on a dollar (in outside funds).”

Other roads to be reconstructed as part of the five-year capital-improvement plan are the remainder of South Street, from Metcalf to the city line, Osborne Street and the Walnut Street bridge, said Mike Long, director of projects and grants.

Long said the city is hoping to go out to bid on the East Genesee project this construction season, though the project's progress is contingent on final approval from the state.

The York Street reconstruction project, he said, is still in the design phase.

Thursday's discussion, however, will center on the city's annual road improvement program and the list of roads the city engineering department comes up with for this year, which Lupien said is always a mix of heavier traffic roads and smaller, residential roads.

“We can spend less money on a street overall if we can catch it,” Lupien said, of needed road repairs. “It's cheaper to keep your roads in shape than to totally reconstruct.”

Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net