Members of Save Our Sonoma Roads met in late January with Sonoma County Public Infrastructure Director Johannes Hoevertsz and Deputy Director Janice Thompson. They confirmed that all pavement preservation projects that were scheduled to be completed in 2022 were completed on schedule during last year’s construction season. You can see the list of roads here.
 

Given the challenges of repairing twice as many road miles as in 2021 because last year’s work included many roads that were damaged by fires and paid for by Pacific Gas & Electric, this is a remarkable achievement. It reflects well on the Public Infrastructure team that works on these projects. We understand that Deputy Director Janice Thompson has received the unofficial title of “Pavement Queen.”

At this time, all projects on the 2023 list are anticipated to be completed during the upcoming construction season, although the problems with storm damage might delay work on Geysers Road. Among the projects to be completed in 2023 are portions of the following roads:
 
•    Adobe Canyon Road
•    Bittner Road
•    Blank Road
•    East Railroad Avenue
•    East Washington Avenue
•    Llano Road
•    Mirabel Road
•    Stony Point Road
•    Wohler Road

You can see a map highlighting roads to be paved in 2023 here (which includes some paid for by PG&E), and a list of roads in the pavement preservation program scheduled for work in 2022-2023 here.

Funding for the projects is partially the result of the advocacy of Save Our Sonoma Roads and its members, although we had no role in deciding which projects were included in the list.

Many projects are asphalt overlays, in which a large amount of new asphalt is placed on top of the damaged surface. While this treatment is more expensive than a chip seal (fine aggregate rock sprayed with a layer of oil), it provides much longer-lasting road surfaces.

The budget for 2023-2024 is being developed in the coming months, and this is a good opportunity to reflect on how much the county’s roads have improved. In 2012 the Board of Supervisors began increasing its contributions to pavement preservation and in 2014 it developed a long-term strategy for roads.

Sonoma County contributes more of its general funds to pavement preservation than any other county in California. It also receives substantial gas tax funding from SB1, which statewide voters approved in 2017, as well as the Go Sonoma sales tax that county voters approved in 2020. All Supervisors have supported
improving our roads, and Public Infrastructure (formerly Transportation and Public Works) is professional and supportive. About 446 miles of county roads will have been refurbished between 2012 and the construction season in 2023.

This is an excellent time to thank your Supervisor for improving our county roads. We anticipate that the supervisors will continue to invest a similar amount of general funds for pavement preservation projects as it has done for about a decade. Spending recently has been about $20 million each year, and we hope that the supervisors will increase the general fund contribution to account for the inflation we have experienced during the past year. Fortunately, SB1 requires counties and cities to maintain their prior levels of road repair efforts.

Inflation may make this a difficult budget period. The county road system has suffered additional damages from flooding this winter. We hope that the supervisors maintain the focus on pavement preservation and do not divert resources to non-pavement infrastructure. As the pavement condition index illustrates, we still have a long way to go.
 
We anticipate Public Infrastructure will soon propose a list of county roads to be improved during the 2024-2025 construction season. We will alert you about the details of its proposal as soon as it becomes available.

Sonoma County’s roads have improved since SOSroads began supporting county road repairs in 2011. We plan to continue to do so.

The County began a new app for smart phones last summer that allows you to take a picture of a pothole and report it. The app is called SoCo Connect.

The SoCo Connect app is available in the Apple and Google Play stores. Community members who were using the SoCo Report It app on an Apple smartphone should have received an automatic update and did not need to take additional steps. The County would appreciate feedback on SoCo Connect with respect to reporting potholes, so let us know how it is working for you.

You may also call the road maintenance division of Sonoma County Public Infrastructure (formerly Department of Transportation and Public Works) at 707- 565-5100. After severe rains, the county’s road crews can have a significant backlog, so be patient.