Save Our Sonoma Roads - SOSroads Announcements

Funding Plan for 2013

Below are various documents related to the plan the Board of Supervisors approved on October 23.

Map of road surfacing in 2013 - This is a map of the roads the county plans to resurface in 2013.

Board Agenda Item for Road Plan - This is the official board agenda description for October 23 Dept of Transportation and Public Works presentation to the supervisors.

Table of roads to be resurfaced in 2013 - Tables describe which roads to be resurfaced and source of funding.

Map of repairs to recreation and tourism roads - This is map of the roads being repaired using a one-time allocation of $6.5 million in general funds for roads important to tourism, recreation and/or agriculture.

Gas Tax Running On Fumes

Gas tax is a broken system for road funding. The Wall Street Journal wrote a special report on has the primary mechanism for road funding is in steady decline and needs to be replaced or overhauled.

This is an excellent overview of the problem with road funding and possible ways to fix it.

Click here to read the whole WSJ article.

Supervisors Meeting on Roads Report

The report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Roads was presented at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday June 19 at the county administration center.

Click here to read SOSRoads initial assessment of the Ad Hoc Report on Roads and for a link to the full Ad Hoc report. Highly recommended reading for anyone concerned about Sonoma County roads.

The Long and Unkempt Road

Read Bob Andrew's excellant article "The Long and Unkempt Road" from the June 2012 issue of the North Bay Business Journal.

SOSroads member Mike Windsor's Guest Opinion "A modest proposal regarding rural roads" was published in the Press Democrat June 1, 2012.

KRCB North Bay Report on Roads

Click here to listen to KRCB's Bruce Robinson's interview with Craig Harrison and Michael Troy on the North Bay Report. On the KRCB website, click on the green arrow at the end of North Bay Report section.

SOSRoads Supervisor Endorsements

SOSRoads, a Sonoma County-wide citizen’s group, was formed to advocate for appropriate allocation of public funds to roads. SOSroads requested all ten candidates to provide written responses to three questions about the county roads crisis.

SOSRoads made its endorsement decisions based on the candidates responses to our questions, our interviews with some of the candidates and their positions stated at candidates forums over the last month.

For the 1st district, SOSRoads endorses Joanne Sanders, Mayor of Sonoma and for the 3rd district SOSRoads endorses Shirlee Zane, the incumbent supervisor.

Please read our complete endorsement and analysis of the candidates, click here.

To read the candidates' complete statement, click here.

Questions to the Candidates

SOSroads has submitted the following questions to the Supervisor candidates for the 1st, 3rd and 5th Districts and requested their responses by April 27.

1. Is Sonoma County responsible for maintaining all county roads? If not, what criteria would you use to determine which roads are not a county responsibility? What standard should be used for defining "maintenance?"

2. What current spending would you cut to provide more general funds for roads?

3. What measures do you support to provide funds for roads and what principles would guide your decisions?

Click here to read SOSroads Supervisor endorsements and analysis.

Click here to read Supervisor candidates' answers to our road questions.

SOSRoads.org’s First Roads Summit a Great Success

About 100 people turned out Wednesday evening, March 7, to hear about the future of Sonoma County roads. Sponsored by SOSroads.org, the event featured Phil Demery, Sonoma County’s Director of Transportation and Public Works.

The standing room-only audience of concerned citizens heard Mr. Demery explain how funding for county roads is “woefully inadequate” and that road maintenance levels are projected to worsen.

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