St. Joseph city commissioners have approved the purchase of new equipment aimed at keeping streets in good condition longer and reducing costly road repairs.

At Monday’s St. Joseph City Commission meeting, members voted to buy a Simline crack seal machine for $76,492. The price came in under the $80,000 budget. City Engineer and Assistant City Manager Tim Zebell said the machine will be used annually on newer roads to seal cracks, preventing water damage and extending pavement life.

“The road is designed to last for 20 years. That’s if you don’t do any treatment to it, it’ll fail after 20 years. And obviously we don’t want to handle it that way, that’s not good asset management.”

According to a presentation at the meeting, the cost of routine maintenance — about $138,000 per mile — is far less than the $4 million per mile it can take for a full road reconstruction.

“Construction inflation has been such that in the later years the projects just keep coming in over even when we apply an inflation factor. So it’s been been a real challenge for us and our consulting engineers,” said Zebell.

The new equipment is expected to last up to 25 years with proper maintenance. City leaders say the purchase is part of a broader effort to “keep good roads good” and stretch taxpayer dollars.