For the first time in seven years, the city of San Diego has completed an assessment of every paved street across the city, but what the report reveals isn’t good.
In the assessment, it said San Diego roads are rated below industry standards and to get back on track in the next 10 years, it’s going to take a lot of money.
“It outlines that our pavement condition has dropped to a 'fair' category,” said Bethany Bezak, the city's transportation director.
The city’s current road score is a 63, which is below the industry standard of 70.
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“That’s really where we want to be as a city, to ensure that our road network is safe, smooth and it’s reliable,” Bezak said.
In order to get back to industry standards, city leaders are proposing a plan to more than quadruple annual spending on road repair for the next eight years.
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“We need to invest a significant amount of money," Bezak said. "We need just shy of $200 million on an average annual year to be able to fully fund our transportation program."
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria made repairing roads a cornerstone of his candidacy, even announcing in 2021 that he would bring "sexy streets" back to San Diego. Then, he planned to invest $40 million of his budget into fixing 50 miles of roads, starting in neighborhoods with streets in the most serious condition. He announced in Oct. 2023 that the work was expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Under the latest plan, the city would spend $213 million a year, compared to its annual average over the last 10 years of just $46 million. According to the report, District 2, which has some of the most traveled roadways in San Diego, has the worst roads in the city.
“We won’t need just a single-year investment, we’ll need year-over-year investments, ultimately,” Bezak said.
Many San Diegans question if this will be a long-lasting fix compared with the patchwork fixes they’ve seen in the recent past. City leaders said if funding for the Pavement Management Plan is approved, they will be able to take a more proactive approach to the issue.
“We would be applying the right treatments at the right time, in the most cost-effective manner, so that we wouldn’t see our roads crumbling," Bezak said. "We wouldn’t see the reactive measures we need to take ultimately when we fill our potholes."
