Apr. 27—Motorists aren't the only ones feeling the pinch with rising gasoline prices.
As summer construction season begins, local governments are dealing with an increase in the cost of asphalt used to seal or resurface roads. Asphalt, a petroleum-based product, roughly parallels the general cost of fuel. For the city of St. Joseph, the cost of asphalt has gone from $80 to $100 a ton since last year.
"The big thing is the increase in petroleum prices that drives the amount of streets we can do now," said Keven Schneider, the city's deputy director of operations for public works and transportation. "The cost of asphalt per ton went up right around 20%. So it has made a difference."
Last month, the St. Joseph City Council approved a contract to resurface 16 total miles in St. Joseph for $4.5 million. In 2022, the city resurfaced 29 miles with the same amount of money. In 2016, the city spent $3.9 million on 27 total miles.
Buchanan County finds itself in a similar situation with the oil used for its chip-and-seal work on farm-to-market roads outside the city limits. County road crews try to get to about 40 miles a year in the western district, with a similar number in the county's eastern portion.
"They're very important to the people that live in the county," said Ron Hook, the western district commissioner.
Hook and Schneider said the cost of nearly everything involved in road maintenance has gone up, including raw materials, equipment and labor. But both point to increased use tax collections in blunting the impact.
"Actually, the last couple of years we've spent more to do more miles," Hook said.
Over the years, city and county voters approved separate taxes that are levied on certain goods and services purchased from out of state. Some of that use tax revenue is directed toward street and road maintenance for the city and county.
Since 2017, the use tax has covered a larger share of asphalt overlay than the Capital Improvements Program tax in St. Joseph. A five-year renewal of the CIP in August proposes a total of $3.9 million for both asphalt resurfacing and repair of concrete streets.
Schneider said the city has made good progress on asphalt resurfacing over the years and may get to more than 16 miles in 2023, despite the rising materials costs.
"We always try to estimate conservatively," he said. "We'd rather be surprised with more funding to do more streets."
The city resurfaces an average of 24 total miles a year, ranging from 12.4 in 2014 to 35.5 in 2019. The city said some higher-volume streets, like Frederick Avenue, need to be resurfaced every five to seven years. Lower-volume residential routes may only need resurfacing every 20 years.