Civil Grand Jury report reveals majority of Santa Cruz County roads are in poor condition
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury Report released a report on Wednesday morning saying a majority of the roads in unincorporated Santa Cruz County are in poor condition.
According to the report, at least 63 percent of the roads are in poor or failed condition. Jason Hoppin who is the spokesperson for Santa Cruz County said they have spent $349 million on improving road infrastructure since 2017.
But, winter storms have had a major factor in those plans.
“There’s at least 80 homes here, there's you know infants all the way up to elderly people with mobility issues and it’s just really stressful that we have no end in sight," Debby Robertson is a 14-year resident said.
Robertson lives directly on the other side of Mountain Charlie Road, she says the road on the opposite side is also poorly maintained.
"There’s a lot of potholes and if we go through more winters like this and that’s not fixed, I mean, we could all be trapped just deteriorate that side of the road very quickly," Robertson said.
This has prompted almost daily complaints to the Board of Supervisors and other county agencies.
“A quarter of $1 billion on storm repair projects and FEMA and other partners have only reimbursed us for half," Santa Cruz County Spokesperson Jason Hoppin said. "We overspent our resources by more than $50 million which is why the county had to borrow money to keep services to the community."
Robertson and other local residents want something to be done, even just a temporary fix in the meantime. As people head over to their house it is impacting their daily commutes.
“Right now you know our driveway here has collapsed as part of this road failure and so primarily we are hiking up so we have to walk a quarter mile to get to and from our homes," Amanda Watson who has lived on Mountain Charlie Road for four years said.
Mike Braun has been a resident for a year in a half alongside his mother Joan, who has been here since 1989. Braun’s wife has a disability which makes her unable to hike up to their house.
“We are parking on this road here and then we have to walk from our parked car all the way up our path to our house so this path is kind of treacherous," Braun said.
The county says they are exploring new local sources of funding such as a dedicated sales tax increase, they want to collaborate with the board of supervisors on how that could work.
One recommendation from the civil grand jury is asking public works to show what culverts and drainage ditches they need to prioritize to prevent roads from being washed out.
