Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

MAINTAINING CITY STREETS
Everything we do relies on oil. 120
– Bobby Chestnut, Street Commissioner, City of Bloomington Street Division
The City’s Street Division provides maintenance and repair for Bloomington’s 237 miles of
streets. Its functions primarily include: street resurfacing, the repair and construction of
sidewalks and curbs, snow removal, street sweeping, and leaf collection. In 2006, the City
paved 2.5 million square feet of streets; in 2007, it paved 1.5 million square feet and in
2008, it paved 906,710. In 2009, it is scheduled to pave a little over 1 million square feet.
The Street Division has used a petroleum‐based asphalt for the last 35 years. This is a
product with a life span of 3‐4 years. The City repaves according to a plan that calls for
paving all arterial streets every ten years, all collector streets every 12 years, and all local
streets every 20 years.
The price of asphalt is closely connected to the price of oil. Asphalt paving materials consist
of a mix of aggregate (stone), sand or gravel and crude refined bitumen, also called “liquid
asphalt.” Liquid asphalt is a sticky black residual obtained from the refining of crude oil and
acts as the binding agent for asphalt. Since liquid asphalt is a residual from crude oil
refining, as oil prices rise, liquid asphalt prices increase. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the price of liquid asphalt has increased 250% during the past five years. This
price increase has led to a doubling of total asphalt paving costs. 121
120 Boyd, James, “Police Agencies Cutting Gas Use a Prices Rise Bloomington Police, Monroe Sheriff’s Office
Finding Ways to Save,” Bloomington Herald Times, May 28, 2008.
121 http://www.bls.gov/
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
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