2021 Pavement Condition Data

/

The WATS asset management dashboard has been updated with 2021 pavement condition data. WATS has partnered with the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to collect pavement condition data on Federal-Aid (FA) eligible roads since 2003, using PASER ratings. The Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system is a visual survey method for evaluating the condition of roads on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a pavement in a failed condition and 10 being a pavement in excellent condition. Guidelines for rating the pavement surface using the PASER system in Michigan have been developed by the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC). The TAMC groups the 1-to-10 rating scale into three categories (Good 8-10, Fair 5-7, Poor 1-4) based on the type of work that is typically required for each rating grouping (routine maintenance, preventive maintenance, or reconstruction).

TAMC stipulates that there must be participating raters from different agencies and that those raters must be certified by TAMC to rate. TAMC cancelled on-site training opportunities in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, causing the 2020 data collection season to be cancelled. In December 2020, TAMC approved changes to the requirements for 2021 Federal Aid (FA) PASER data collection on a temporary basis. These changes to the 2021 data collection season and related policy were identified as a “Pilot” program and included: 

  • Moving from 3-member rating teams to 2-member rating teams.

  • Modifications to training requirements to help address cancellations of on-site training and certification opportunities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Teams were required to collect 100% of the FA system in 2021 with budget allocations from FY20 and FY21. 

In 2021, WATS partnered with the WCRC and the Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study (KATS) to collect PASER condition ratings on 100% of the FA network, or approximately 900 miles of roadways in Washtenaw County. MDOT staff were directed not to participate in collection efforts this year, due to concerns regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2021 collection efforts revealed 30.8% of FA lane miles in Washtenaw County received a rating of Poor 1-4, 30.1% received Fair 5-7, and 39.1% received Good 8-10.

The WATS asset management dashboard has been updated with 2021 data and there is a ton of data to dig into there, including the number of road miles for each PASER rating by community, a countywide map with recommended treatments for each road segment, and summary profiles for each community. View the WATS Asset Management dashboard at: www.miwats.org/data/assetmgmt/home/