This report (Click Here), updated to the final version on June 11, 2018, was funded by the Sonoma County Transportation and Public Works Department and provides information on the current status of the 1,357 miles of pavement on county roads. Half of the road network is surveyed each year.

Currently, about 33% of the county road system is good or very good; 11% is fair; 26% is poor; and 30% is very poor or failed.

By functional classification, arterials are in the best shape (pavement condition index 79); major collectors have a PCI of 71; minor collectors a PCI of 49; and residential roads a PCI of 33.  Residential roads account for almost 58% of the county road system, and SOSroads members already know they are in the worst condition.

The countywide PCI has fallen from a recent high of 51 (2015) to 48, but it is still well above the PCI of 43 when SOSroads began in 2011. The recent decline may be attributed to the severe winter storms in 2016-2017.

The recommended budget scenario would improve the countywide PCI to 53 within five years, and will require an investment of about $250 million.

The Sonoma County Transportation and Public Works Department has recently issued lists of planned pavement projects for the 2018 and 2019 construction seasons with tentative start dates. The funds for these projects were allocated in part as the result of advocacy by SOSroads and its members.

To see the three-page “Planned Pavement Projects 2018 and 2019,” including road names and locations, pavement treatments, and tentative construction starting dates, click here.

Note that only portions of most listed roads are planned for pavement improvement, not the entire lengths of the roads. Among the portions of roads that are tentatively included for improvement this year (2018) are the following:

  • April 2018: Bodega Highway and River Road.
  • May 2018: Bohemian Highway, Grove Street, and River Road.
  • June 2018: Austin Creek Road, Canfield Road, Franz Valley School Road, West Dry Creek Road, and Willowside Road.
  • August 2018: Crane Canyon Road, Grange Road, Middle Two Rock Road, and Sonoma Mountain Road.

Be sure to review the entire list of roads. 

Sonoma County has launched a great new service to report road problems in the county. It's a website with companion Smartphone Apps for iPhone and Android called SoCo Report It. 

Give it a try! We've seen problems fixed very quickly if they're reported through this service. Use the cellphone app to pinpoint the location of the problem and include a picture for fastest response.

The Sonoma County Department of Transportation of Public Works has proposed a list of roads to be improved during the 2017 construction season. The board of supervisors will consider approving the list at its meeting on Tuesday, June 14. The funds for these improvements were allocated in part as the result of advocacy by SOSroads and its members. To see the proposed plan, click here (pp. 8-9 contain a map and the list of roads).

Among the roads that are proposed to be improved are Lakeville, Adobe, Napa, Petaluma Hill, River, Occidental, Mark West Springs, Lytton Springs, and Dutcher Creek. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission released its annual report on pavement conditions throughout the Bay Area on June 2. Sonoma County’s roads in its unincorporated area continue to rank worst among the nine counties, although it did improve from a pavement condition index of 45 to 47. Among Sonoma County’s nine cities, Windsor ranked best (73) and Petaluma worst (46). Click here to see the results for all counties and cities in the Bay Area.

Bumpy Roads Ahead: America’s Roughest Rides and Strategies to Make our Roads Smoother (July 2015) - The National Transportation Research Group’s July 2015 report compared roads among cities with urban populations between 250,000 and 500,000.  It found that Santa Rosa Has Nation’s Third Worst Roads for a Medium-Sized City. 

Using Federal Highway Administration data from 2013 the group concluded that Santa Rosa has the third highest share of roads in the nation that are rated poor (chart 5, page 15). Only 10 percent of Santa Rosa’s roads and highways are considered to be good; 12 percent are fair, 29% are mediocre and 49% are poor. For purposes of this study an urban area includes the city and its neighboring suburban areas, meaning that the county roads adjacent to Santa Rosa are included. Here also is the report's, Appendix B 

You can also click here to read the Press Democrat's coverage of this report.

More Articles ...

  1. Long Term Road Plan (October 2014)
  2. The True Cost of Deficient Roadways (September 2014)
  3. Road Needs Assessment
  4. Pavement Condition Index Report for Sonoma Co. Roads
  5. MTC Producing Videos on Worst Roads