“Birmingham, AL – Providing detailed statistics to the public and our elected officials helps significantly in reaching informed decisions.

During the January 21, 2015 Administrative, Public Works & Infrastructure Committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission, Deputy County Manager for Infrastructure, Dan Biles made a presentation detailing the responsibilities of the Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Department and what it will take moving forward to maintain the more than 1,900 miles of road the County is responsible for.

To put this in perspective, there are enough roads to stretch to Boise, Idaho.  In addition to the roads themselves, the County is responsible for 310 bridges, 11,500 drainage culvert crossings, 41,500 traffic signs, and 434 traffic signals.

To maintain this, it takes financing and personnel.  Deputy Manager Biles presented comparative data showing trends in both personnel and allocated budgets dating back to 2001, as well as proposed maintenance cycles and budgets needed to adequately continue to keep these roads and bridges in good condition for the public.

County Manager Tony Petelos was pleased with the presentation.  “Dan, along with the Roads and Transportation staff put a lot of work into gathering this data and putting this presentation together.  This type of presentation is what both the Commission and I need to be able to make decisions on areas that we need to pay attention to.  Not only that, it’s very informative for the public.”, Petelos said.