New audit highlights San Diego roads need better investment, strategy and funding
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — This may not be news to San Diego drivers, but a new 87-page audit shows that San Diego is in desperate need of more funding to fix crumbling streets.
For Brian Earley, who is the chairman of La Jolla’s Traffic and Transportation Board, crumbling pavements along the intersection of Cliffridge Avenue and Scenic Drive is an ongoing story.
The new audit detailing the current status of the City of San Diego’s efforts to fix rugged roads isn’t shocking for Earley.
“I think what’s surprising is how deep of a hole the city is in,” Earley said. “…And much to the detriment of residents and drivers, I just read that it costs about $800 for each driver just in vehicle repairs.”
That finding comes from the City Auditor Andy Hanau.
A portion of the report also lays out recommendations to make sure the city’s street maintenance program is “…transparent, efficient, equitable, and sufficiently funded.”
Some of these suggestions include establishing a strategy to address unimproved streets along with a proper funding plan to make sure that resources are sufficient enough to support an effective Street Maintenance Program.
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“There’s equity in the prioritization in terms of a factor to prioritize streets, but what we’re recommending in addition to that is the goal,” Hanau said.
The audit comes one month after the city did an assessment of the street’s status for the first time in seven years along with a plan to combat the problem.
The survey found that based on a road rating system called a Pavement Condition Index which scales from 0 to 11, with 70 being industry standard, the city’s overall score is 63. In 2016, that number was 71.
“We recognize significant limitations exist because of city resources,” shared Bethany Bezak, transportation director for the City of San Diego.
Spending looks to be the driving force when it comes to blocks in the road, according to the report.
The city would have to spend over $200 million per year compared to an annual average of $46 million to patch up a nearly $2 billion problem.
“One of the largest changes that we are recommending is toward unimproved streets. That way there is not a competition between currently paved streets that need to be maintained and new streets that need to be brought up to city standards,” Bezak said.
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