Council presses administration on paving, potholes and $3M asphalt‑plant plan

Memphis City Council members used the May 19 budget hearing to press city engineers and public‑works staff for clearer numbers and faster action on paving and pothole repairs, a recurring political and constituent concern.

Public Works Director Scott Morgan told the council that FY27’s capital improvement program includes a $20 million paving request that the administration expects will support about 124 lane miles of resurfacing next year when combined with in‑house work. "Six and a half million for in‑house paving…that will get us about 61 lane miles," Morgan said. He added that the remainder — roughly 63 lane miles — would come from CIP‑managed contracted paving.

Council members said the pace remains too slow for many neighborhoods. Councilwoman Walker asked plainly: "Can y'all find some money so we can pay some overtime so we can get Elvis Presley Boulevard finished?" Council members also pressed for a list of the city’s most urgent paving projects so the council could consider prioritizing them in the budget.

To expand capacity, Morgan and Chief Operating Officer Antonio Adams described a proposed $3 million CIP request to refurbish the city’s asphalt plant. Morgan said the rehabilitation would replace worn conveyors, bins and air‑filtration systems and allow the city to use milled asphalt productively: "If it's approved, we'll be able to roll pretty quickly into bidding that project and getting somebody to come in and do a complete refurbishment," he told the council.

Public‑works staff argued that a stronger municipal plant would lower long‑term costs and enable the city to supply asphalt to contractors while keeping inspections and routing under city control. Adams said that, over several years, the plant could support a "grow your own" approach and provide a more reliable hot‑mix supply than external vendors, particularly during peak paving months.

Staff gave several cautions. Morgan noted that asphalt production is weather‑sensitive and that industry capacity can be constrained: "You will hit a limit on contractors because you're fighting for the same contractors as the DOTs and other municipalities," he said. He also warned that the purchasing and inspection logistics required to provide city‑produced asphalt to external contractors would require legal and operational steps before such an arrangement could be used at scale.

The hearing produced immediate follow‑ups: council members asked for a clear, prioritized list of urgent paving projects, a practical "gold standard" scenario showing how many lane miles could be repaved under different funding levels, and more precise cost per lane‑mile estimates (public works cited roughly $80,000 per lane mile for in‑house work).

What happens next: public‑works staff said they will return with a clearer pavement‑priority list, expected asphalt‑plant design and cost details in the CIP presentation, and scenarios for alternative funding mechanisms such as bonds or expanded CIP allocations.