With cracking and rutted roads, worn pavement grooves, potholes and weak roadbed foundations, the quality of Berkeley streets has fallen into what Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesperson John Goodwin calls "troublesome" condition.
In a recent study by the commission, Berkeley’s Pavement Condition Index score of 58 out of 100 for 2005 puts it six points below the Bay Area’s average of 64 for 101 cities. The score is nine points lower than the city’s 2004 score, marking a stark decline in road quality, Goodwin said.
"Berkeley is a good-size city," he said. "Typically in larger cities with over 100,000 residents such as Berkeley, the swings are not that significant."
Berkeley’s score puts it in the "fair" category. With a score below 60, the city can expect its roads to have accelerated pavement deterioration and be in urgent need of repair, Goodwin said.
The study, conducted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which oversees transportation for the Bay Area, reported on the quality of roads across the Bay Area. The collected data was then added into a standardized pavement program that allows public works officials to compare cities and evaluate them in relation to one another.
The lack of high-quality roads comes from the recent budget cuts and the reallocation of money away from road repair, Goodwin said.
After Proposition 42 passed in 2002, the California Department of Transportation was supposed to receive $1.4 billion from gas tax revenues for the construction of new roads. However, recent budget cuts have allowed the state to declare a budget crisis, meaning that the governor and state legislators have the power to divert those funds toward other areas.
Under the newly proposed Proposition 1A, additional funds would be allocated to counties and cities across the state, which would result in about $970,000 for Berkeley. Those funds could only be used for local streets and roads in the first year after passage, Goodwin said.
"Proposition 1A would close that loophole and make diversions only possible under specific conditions and require payment in three years with interest," Goodwin said, "It would not allow diversion of Proposition 42 unless previous loans were repaid."
Proposition 1B would also allocate about $2 billion to road construction and repair.
Opponents of the propositions say the funds are too restricted and rely too heavily on debt.
Goodwin said the deteriorating streets have effects for all residents.
"If you’re a senior who has a limited mobility that relies on a cane or walker, a bumpy sidewalk is just as much as an inconvenience and a threat as a pothole is to a motorist and a Mercedes," Goodwin said, "Unless one is a complete shut-in, we are all affected at some point whether we try or not by the condition of local street and roads."
Contact Viet-Quoc Nguyen at vnguyen@dailycal.org. |
