| | | | News Details |
California’s local roadway system is on the brink of failure, according to a new study presented to the Board of Supervisors today.
The California Statewide Local Streets and Roads Needs Assessment, prepared by the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities, has concluded that without significant additional state investment, the local road system throughout California will deteriorate and eventually fail.
"Every trip – whether by car, bus or bike – starts and ends on a local street or road. It is time the state leadership recognizes the local road system as an essential part of the statewide transportation system in its budgeting decisions," said Supervisor John Vasquez, Chairman of the Solano County Board of Supervisors.
The Board underscored this notion by adopting a resolution expressing strong opposition to any future cuts to vital transportation funding, such as Proposition 42 and the Highway User Tax Account (HUTA), and strong support for the establishment of adequate and stable funding sources for local street and road maintenance and rehabilitation.
The study points out that borrowed funding (Proposition 1B) and Federal stimulus dollars have helped keep the state’s local road system intact for the last few years. However, the temporary funding has masked the deeper, long-term problem of inadequate road and bridge maintenance funding. The study calculates that the current funding shortfall for the statewide local road system will exceed $71 billion over the next ten years.
That is, $7 billion annually in new money is required by California counties and cities over the next ten years to stop the further deterioration of the local roadway system. The 10-year funding shortfall in unincorporated Solano County alone is $68 million, which requires $6.8 million in new funding each year.
According to the study, the condition of the typical local road in California has a rating of 68 on the statistical measurement known as the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), in which zero represents failed pavement and 100 is new pavement in excellent condition. This places the typical local road in California in the “fair” category. If roadway funding is maintained at its current level, the pavement of California’s local roads will deteriorate to an “at risk” condition in ten years and to a “failed” condition by 2033. This continued deterioration of the statewide local road system will mean more potholes, more vehicle damage incurred by drivers, and ultimately less safe roads.
The roads in unincorporated Solano County have a PCI rating of 67, mirroring the condition of the average local road in California. Solano County’s roads rank fifth in the nine Bay Area counties. Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo roads are better, while San Francisco, Napa, Marin and Sonoma roads are worse. Within Solano County, Vacaville, Dixon, Fairfield and Benicia roads are better than Solano County’s, while Suisun City, Vallejo and Rio Vista roads are worse.
“As roadway conditions decline, the cost to repair them increases exponentially,” said Birgitta Corsello, Director of Resource Management. “It is much more cost effective to maintain roads in good condition than it is to let them deteriorate, and then have to make costly repairs.”
“In fact, even moderate repairs to a road can cost from seven to 20 times as much as maintaining the road properly in the first place. By neglecting the maintenance of the local road system, the expensive initial investment in transportation infrastructure made by the people of California is being lost,” Corsello added.
The problem with underfunded road maintenance becomes much worse if even the inadequate existing sources of road funding are taken from the cities and counties to balance the state budget. This nearly happened in 2009. Solano County remains strongly opposed to state raids on local transportation dollars.
Providing funding for local street and road maintenance and repair will also assist with economic recovery during the worst fiscal crisis in California in decades. Investment in the local transportation network provides public and private sector jobs that support economic recovery in every corner of the state. In addition, a well maintained infrastructure is critical for economic development by attracting businesses and providing for the safe and efficient movement of both people and goods.
For more information about the report, go to www.savecaliforniastreets.org.
Posted: January 12, 2010
|
| | | |
Homepage
