CHARLOTTE COUNTY'S PAVING PROGRAM - Charlotte County has various types of roadways.  Roads can be state-maintained such as I-75 or US 41.  They can be private roads or County-maintained, and some have dedicated rights-of-way but have not been accepted for maintenance by the County.  Only County-maintained roadways are included in the Annual Paving Programs.  County-maintained roads are either District or Road and Bridge Roadways.  Road and Bridge roads are major arterial such as Kings Highway or CR 771 while District roads are located in designated neighborhoods or districts.

Each year, selected districts are involved in a paving Program to resurface and reconstruct their paved roadways.  The districts are either MSBUs (Municipal Service Benefit Units) or MSTUs (Municipal Service Taxing Units).  These taxing authorities are established by the Board of County Commissioners to provide services to residents in a specific district.  Assessments are paid by property owners in the district to be used solely for maintenance of their infrastructure.  A portion of the assessment can be used to fund their Paving Program.

When a paving project is funded through an MSBU or MSTU assessment, only roads within the district are paved.  When the paving is funded as part of the County's annual Street and Drainage Assessment, Public Works selects the roadways to be paved based on the condition of the road, the traffic volume, number of residents benefiting from the paving and other factors such as resurfacing upon completion of a major utility project.  Public Works attempts to pave in areas where the finished project will have a positive impact on the neighborhood.  Costs are kept down by paving in blocks and by having the contractor mobilize to a single area.  Often Public Works will select roadways for the Paving Program that require a simple overlay rather than reconstruction of a road that has fallen into disrepair.  Studies have proven that it is more economical to resurface a road before it deteriorates, rather than reconstructing a roadway after it has failed.