From 1988 to 1999, the city used a petition-type policy where signatures from at least 2/3 of the street-abutting property owners had to be obtained to reconstruct each individual residential street. Streets were improved in the order in which petitions were received - first-come, first-served.

While this was a fair method to select streets for improvement, it was not efficient and resulted in piecemeal, scattered improvements throughout the city which had little impact on neighborhoods.

The city stopped accepting petitions in 1992 due the tremendous backlog of projects, which were finally completed in 1999.

In 1997, a Residential Street Program Committee was formed to study and address some of the shortcomings and challenges of the program. This committee was composed of citizens with a variety of backgrounds whose goal was to make recommendations for addressing the remaining 28 miles of ditched streets once the backlog of petitioned projects were complete. The committee report was finalized in October 1997 and the new method was put into effect after the 1998 1/8 cent sales tax increase.

Staff became responsible for setting up an objective rating system to prioritize Residential Street Projects based on neighborhood factors:

• street condition
• flooding/drainage problems
• traffic conditions
• safety
• neighborhood conditions

This effort involved members of the Police, Parks, Planning, and Public Works departments. The original neighborhood prioritization system was approved in the summer of 1998. Staff updated and presented this data in 1999, 2001 and 2003, recommending neighborhoods for two years at a time. Since the rankings did not change significantly in any of the two year re-evaluations, 2003 was the last update with the program years being set through 2009.

The original program excluded approximately 4.1 miles of ditched residential streets where there was inadequate downstream storm drainage.

In 2005, a task force was chartered to make recommendations about these ineligible streets. The task force was composed of residents, business leaders, council members and staff. In July 2005, the council adopted Resolution 3647 which committed the city to completing the remaining 4.1 miles of streets.

This approach has been fully supported by the City Council since adoption. It has provided an objective system on which a "severity of need" can be determined on a neighborhood basis, and it has been accepted, as well, by residents and property owners.