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Chicago Department of Transportation Pavement Management Audit Follow-Up

December 12, 2017

Summary

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a follow-up to its December 2015 audit of the City’s pavement management process.

Executive Summary

The purpose of the 2015 audit was to determine if CDOT managed street maintenance in a cost effective way that extended pavement life in accordance with the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) pavement preservation program guidelines. OIG found that CDOT’s pavement management program did not comport with those guidelines. Specifically, we found that the Department’s pavement management program, which manages arterial and residential streets separately, was deficient in the areas of street condition data collection, performance measurement, and preventive maintenance.

Based on the results of the audit, OIG recommended that CDOT design and implement a pavement preservation program to achieve the most cost-effective means of extending the life of City streets. This recommendation included specific action items, including developing in-house expertise about pavement preservation techniques, collecting reliable pavement-condition data on a routine basis, developing a proactive preventive maintenance strategy, and separating residential street resurfacing from the Menu. In its response to the audit, CDOT described a number of corrective actions it planned to take, but declined our recommendation to separate residential street resurfacing from the Menu.

Chicago Department of Transportation Pavement Management Audit Follow-Up - publication cover