Government

Brick Has a New High-Tech Way of Choosing Which Streets Get Repaved

by
Daniel Nee
May 20, 2026

Vialytics software in use in Brick Township, N.J. (Photo: Township of Brick)

How do they choose which streets get fresh pavement in Brick? What was once a tedious, subjective and time-consuming process has now been streamlined with a dose of high-tech help.

While cynics have long maintained that road paving projects are often targeted toward the whims of elected officials, that was never the case in Brick – at least over the last several decades. But the process was not completely scientific. For many years, township officials would spend time annually developing a list of roadways that needed resurfacing through a combination of complaints from residents, inspections by township engineering and Public Works officials, and even informal surveys of mail carriers who spent their days traversing Brick Township’s 256 miles of municipal roads. That data would be compiled into a ranking of “worst to best,” and officials at town hall would coordinate with utility companies to find out if there were any planned projects that would preclude the work.

That has now changed. In an interview published by the township this week between Mayor Lisa Crate and Township Engineer Elissa Commins, Commins explained how new software acquired by the township over the last year has resulted in a more scientific and objective method to determining which roads are in need of repair. Last fall, Brick elected to use the services of Vialytics, a private firm that produces AI-powered road management software that helps municipalities and public works departments automatically survey, document, and prioritize road repairs.

“We actually mount iPhones on the sanitation trucks that pick up recycling,” said Commins. “And Violytics takes a picture of the road every 10 to 15 feet. When the trucks come back in, the photos are uploaded to Vialytics and the AI gives each photo a ranking.”

The software assesses for cracking, potholes, and pavement condition, Commins said, and based on the ranking of each photo in a string, a segment of every road gets evaluated.

“It comes up on a computer screen – a map of the whole town where roads that are in good condition are shown in bright green and roads that are in terrible condition are shown in a deep, deep red-purple, almost maroon,” she said. “It’s very useful, and can evaluate every road in town.”

Vialytics software in use in Brick Township, N.J. (Photo: Township of Brick)

The use of the software has transformed and optimized how roads in Brick are chosen for paving projects.

“Tt used to be very reactive,” said Commins. “I actually couldn’t believe how many roads we had that were not in great shape that no one ever complained about.”

Township employees still inspect all of the roads personally before they make the final list of paving priorities, and while the software has some limitations, it has streamlined the work to a significant degree. In addition to identifying roads that need a fresh coat of asphalt, the software also picks up potholes, damaged road signs, and a recent update allows it to evaluate lane striping. After the first round of use, officials are also learning how to fine-tune the software, which in some cases includes adding the iPhones to other vehicles that are out later in the day, since less light during early-morning recycling pickups can make a road appear differently than it would at the height of the afternoon sun.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Crate, emphasizing that the township continues its practice of liaising with New Jersey Natural Gas, the BTMUA and other utility agencies to ensure projects don’t overlap. The township has an ordinance that requires utility companies to repave roadways once they are dug up in maintenance projects, and officials have tried to use the ordinance to work with the utility companies to better time projects.

“If something’s going to be dug up within five years, then we we tend to wait to make those big repairs because it would just get dug up again,” the mayor said.

Each year, the township’s engineering department meets with their finance colleagues, and elected officials, to develop a capital budget that accounts for the vast majority of repaving projects. Throughout the year, after the budget is approved by the township council, projects are put out to bid and awarded a contract subject to approval by the township council.

“We have a long list of roads on the design list this year, which is exciting,” said Commins. “We probably have about ten projects that we’ve funded for design.”

The budget for projects usually includes drainage improvements, and the cost van vary based on the amount of work that portion takes, as well as ancillary projects such as removing old tree roots that are risking the integrity of the road surface. Some road resurfacing projects will be funded – at least in part – by utility companies when work is being completed. Roads in the Sky Manor section, as well as Thiele Road and a few streets off of it are among those that will be paired with utility projects.

“We want to make sure that those roads stay nice once we invest millions into getting them paved,” said Commins.

See The Entire Interview Below: