A new video produced by the Local Road Research Board helps the public understand why some bad roads aren’t always fixed first.

The seven-minute video explains what causes road pavements to deteriorate and why, like the saying, “throwing good money after bad,”  it may be more cost-effective to put maintenance dollars into roads that still have life left in them versus roads that are in the worst condition.

In it, city and county engineers discuss how they use a pavement management program to decide which roads to fix when, in order to stretch limited resources in the most effective way possible.

“We’ve learned that if we wait for things to break and fall apart, they’re much more costly to replace than if we put a little bit into it during its life cycle,” says Mark Maloney, City of Shoreview public works director.