City Council Accepts $250K Grant for Road Improvements

Menifee City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept a grant to use recycled materials in two upcoming road improvements.

Valued at $250,000, the grant provides funds to finance both a 3.5-mile road widening and a 4.5-mile stretch of road repaving project along Newport Road, using recycled materials.

CalRecycle, or California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, is the issuer of the grant. The agency works with recycling and waste management organizations to support and promote projects in keeping with the state’s waste reduction and recycling initiatives. Grants are offered by the agency to local governments, non-profits and other organizations.

The sole condition of the grant is that the City use Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) in place of standard asphalt in the road improvement projects. In addition to being environmentally friendly, RAC has been shown to be more durable than conventional materials – thus reducing the overall maintenance cost.

Upon hearing these benefits, Councilman John Denver queried, “Why don’t we use (this material) more?” The answer, as provided during the motion’s Q&A phase, boiled down to cost: RAC is 10–15 percent more expensive than standard asphalt. However, given its overall benefit, council members appeared open to considering its use in future projects, as well.

The two road projects chosen by CalRecycle had previously been approved by the City with funds allocated to use standard asphalt. By accepting this grant, the City Council has freed up these funds for use on a future project, making the true value of the grant a benefit of $500,000 for the citizens of Menifee.