Central Coast roads among worst in the state
UPDATE 11/1/16 6:13PM: Roadways in Santa Cruz County are in trouble. A report by California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities shows the county came in at 51 out of 58 counties, 58 being in the worst shape.
“Lets just say, we’re very jealous of those counties that have the resources,” said John Presleigh, Public Works Director for the County of Santa Cruz.
According to Presleigh, resources are in short supply because of decreasing gas tax revenues, which are cutting back nearly 5 million dollars of the budget.
“It’s just got so much more difficult when resources disappear of 30% on your budget,” said Presleigh.
But it’s not just Santa Cruz County. The report also finds Monterey and San Benito County roads also among the state’s 10 worst. In short, roads on the Central Coast are taking a beating.
“Other streets back up, people cut through the local traffic. Moving people, or moving cars, or moving bikes or buses, everybody uses the streets,” said Mark Dettle, Public Works Director with the City of Santa Cruz.
County officials say maintaining 600 miles of roadways in the county needs to be done consistently, or else infrastructure will crumble.according to county officials,
“Many of them are in such bad condition that they need to be rebuilt,” said Jimmy Dutra, Watsonville City Councilmember.
And as the election sits around the corner, county transportation managers are coming out in support of Measure D, which if passed, would call for a half of 1% sales tax increase to pay for improvements.
“We just need some resources, and we think Measure D is a great starting point to help us,” said Presleigh.
ORIGINAL STORY: County and city leaders called for new road funding Tuesday after a statewide report listed Santa Cruz County roads near the bottom of the list in California.
The report, published by the California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities, listed Santa Cruz County roads among the poorest in the state, ranking 51 st out of 58 counties.
The pavement condition of Monterey County roads also ranked in the report’s bottom ten.
According to the report, which is issued every two years, only six California counties have roads in “good” condition. Roads in 52 counties were classified as “at risk.”
KION’s Steve Fundaro is following the story. Watch his report tonight a 5 and 6 on KION.
