Page City Council put its money where its mouth is on Monday night by proposing the city appropriate upwards of $2.5 million this upcoming budget year for widescale road repairs.
Five members of council (Councilmen Mike Bryan and Korey Seyler were absent) unanimously concluded Page’s streets have gone without major road repairs for too long.
“It’s long overdue. Our streets aren’t getting any younger,” commented councilman Dennis “Dugan” Warner.
Working with the recently contracted Peak Engineering out of Flagstaff, city officials say they have identified and assigned a triage list to many of Page’s streets. Using a system that identifies a road’s integrity based on predicted remaining service life, the group has put together a list of what they determine to be Page’s most in-need roadways.
Priority was assigned not only to streets in an advanced state of degradation, but also to those that are heavily trafficked or serve as gateway corridors for tourists.

Page City Manager Crystal Dyches said recent data gathered on Page’s roads revealed 96 percent of all roadway surfaces in Page are in need of some kind of maintenance. Many of those streets, as is no surprise to any Page driver who has felt gravel beneath his tires, require a major overhaul, she added.
Council and representatives from Peak discussed a plan that would not only prioritize rebuilding major throughways such as Elm Street and Aero Avenue, but set up a proactive system to keep up with long neglected maintenance on newer roads, or roads which have deteriorated rapidly.
By reassessing the roads annually and strategizing for the next roads on the checklist, Peak engineer Tom Smith opined it would allow the city to defer road maintenance costs. Furthermore, he continued, it could expedite the process to have more roads repaired each year should bids for the construction come in favorably.
In discussing plans for a complete rebuild of Aero Avenue — a project which could cost upwards of $1.3 million — some councilors questioned the immediacy of needed repair to the road. Citing a lack of aesthetic appeal of the adjacent homes and the road’s unusual width, council opted to potentially move construction back another two years.
Another project which has been in a state of limbo through the Arizona Department of Transportation for several years is a sidewalk rebuild on the northernmost stretch Lake Powell Boulevard. Spanning from roughly the Marriott Inn to the peak of the hill heading into town, the sidewalk would serve as a safer and more attractive walkway for pedestrians traveling up or down the hill.  
Coppermine Road, despite receiving a rework roughly five years ago, is also in major need of repair. According to Vice Mayor John Kocjan, that work done on Coppermine was done improperly during that timeframe. He voiced a special concern for the throughway, saying “it doesn’t have much left in it.”
Throughout the first year of the plan, 10th Avenue could see a rebuild as well. Council claimed because it is more trafficked by airport travelers than Aero, and not as much of a “logistical nightmare” as the 76-foot-wide Aero, it deserved to move up the list.
Other streets on the list to receive some kind of work in the next three years include Scenic View Drive, a portion of North Lake Powell Boulevard, a portion of Elm Street, Cameron Road, Elk Road and Haul Road.
Roughly half of the $1.5 million per year allowance — if approved and adhered to by council — would come from the city’s general fund, with the other from its Highway User Revenue Fund.