Paying for street maintenance has been the road less traveled on Bainbridge Island for years.

City manager Blair King warned the City Council May 21 that while not a “crisis” yet it might not be that far down the road if spending doesn’t increase.

The city has been spending about $1 million a year for road preservation. But a report says $1.5 million is needed just to keep up. He said a street can go 20 years without having to do much to it. But preserving roads can be up to five times cheaper than rebuilding failed roads.

Councilmember Kirsten Hytopoulos said, “It’s a perennial problem on the island that’s not been addressed.”

Mayor Joe Deets added: “We have to find the sweet spot on how much to invest up to a certain level” then annually keep it at that level.

Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki said: “It’s pretty sobering. We need to invest in this.”

King said an important priority for a city should be maintaining the assets it has. The council has to decide what essential services it wants to provide.

King recommended the council take the high road and focus on maintaining streets at a high level that carry the most traffic. “Certain streets are not worth investing in those,” he said of less-used roads.

That would likely lead to complaints, such as, “Why the city isn’t doing anything about it. That would be a hard conversation. What gets fixed, and what does not get fixed? Decisions would be difficult for some people, but have to be made.”

One solution, he said, could be trying to pass a bond for road improvements. “But will the public accept paying more?”

Councilmembers agreed the public needs to be involved.

Deets added, “Public outreach is going to be critical on this.”

As to optional funding, Moriwaki shared a story about how he first was introduced to government when he was about 6 years old. His dad wanted sidewalks built so he could walk to school. The city wouldn’t do it. So the neighbors formed a local improvement district to get it done.

Deputy mayor Jon Quitslund said he checked out a number of roads before the meeting and found many don’t have shoulders, making them dangerous to walk or bike on.

Councilmember Leslie Schneider said one way to make the city’s money go further would be to look at new technology, like an asphalt zipper. Using that tool, old asphalt is crunched up and new asphalt added so material doesn’t have to be hauled away. That would help with the bottom line, she said.

Public Works director Chris Wierzbicki said the city has been doing that for two years, at places like Seaborne and Pleasant Beach Road. He said not only is it less expensive because it’s recycled, it’s also better because the thick asphalt lasts longer. It’s also more effective because many roads on BI don’t “have tons of base.”

Another option is using concrete rather than asphalt because it lasts longer, King said. Winslow Way is concrete, for example. He added the city needs to stay away from cheap fixes like chip seal. “It’s a waste of money, and you’re not going to get what you want.”

Going into the meeting, city staff had recommended a council subcommittee be formed to bring back ideas to the full council. But the council decided it was too important of an issue; they all need to be involved. “A lot of work can happen off-line with subgroups,” Hytopoulos said.

Wierzbicki explained in a PowerPoint that the city has 280 miles of paved roads and 5 miles of gravel roads. Distressed roads have alligator and block cracking, rutting, patching, raveling and weathering conditions. Preservation includes asphalt patching, sweeping, pothole repair, striping, shoulder grading, vegetation control and gravel grading. There are four types of roads: primary arterials like Highway 305; secondary roads, such as High School and Miller; collectors like Fort Ward and Battle Point; and 126 lane miles of local access.