Street & Sidewalk Program

The City of Gahanna manages over 325 lane miles of roads that require regular maintenance to keep them in a condition that is safe for travel. The purpose of the street program is to prolong the life of city streets by providing a number of maintenance measures.  These include crack sealing, micro resurfacing, asphalt overlay, and when needed a complete street rebuild. 

Street Rebuilds with Sidewalk Replacement:

When other treatments are no longer cost effective to extend a roadway’s life cycle, the road is reconstructed. The existing roadway will be completely removed and reconstructed. This process will provide new curbs and gutters as well as the partial removal and replacement of driveway approaches. New 5 foot sidewalks will be installed to comply with PROWAG standards and curb ramps at intersections will also be updated to be ADA-compliant. Trees in the right-of-way could be impacted. Parks and Recreation has a tree replacement program for those impacted. 

Asphalt Overlay with Sidewalk Maintenance:

When the asphalt surface is deteriorated but the base of the road remains in good condition an asphalt overlay service will be performed.  This process removes approximately 3 inches of the existing asphalts and it is replaced with a new course of asphalt.  Spot curb and gutter repairs are also completed as part of this service. ADA curb ramps are replaced when needed and sidewalk maintenance is performed on all properties fronting this program area (50% cost share applied).

Crack Sealing & Micro Resurfacing:

When the asphalt starts to develop some larger cracking but is otherwise in good condition crack sealing will be performed to help seal and prevent further deterioration and infiltration of the elements. Micro surfacing is an application of asphalt emulsion and small aggregate to cover, fill voids and seal small and medium cracks in the road surface. Both of these helps to preserve the street and provide longevity to street investments.

For more information please see our 

Street Ratings

The Engineering Department is responsible for rating the condition of all city-maintained streets. This is completed every other year.  Overall rating of a street is called the Pavement Condition Rating (PCR). The rating system is based on a scale of 0 to 100 (100 being excellent condition). The following criteria determine a street's PCR: extent of cracking, concrete condition, crack seal condition, and pavement defects (ie: potholes, ride quality, etc). Each contributes to the overall rating; however, pavement defects are weighted the heaviest because it relates to ride quality and maintenance costs. Industry standard is for streets to rate above 75.

View current street ratings map (PDF).

Life Cycle of a Street

The following is the preventative maintenance cycle currently used to maintain residential streets. The cycle determines the next application to be performed considering the previous treatment for any given street. The 3 types of preventative maintenance applications are repeated until treatments are no longer effective after which the street is rebuilt.

Street Maintenance Cycle