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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
This website is intended to provide an opportunity for residents to communicate who are concerned about the deterioration of the roads system in Sonoma County.
We encourage you to share your thoughts on how our community can improve the situation and to draw attention to roads that are in particularly bad shape. Discussions about the general condition of the county road system are worthwhile and ultimately solutions will be required at the county level.
We also encourage establishing neighborhood discussions on the Roads Forum. SOS Roads began when a group neighbors in Bennett Valley and a group of neighbors on Lichau Road discovered that they were working within their own communities on similar road issues.
We believe that there are concerned citizens working locally all over Sonoma County. The website and the Roads Forum are an opportunity to communicate our ideas and thoughts about our roads. We have much to learn from each other, and working together we have a better chance of influencing public officials. Please be courteous especially with those with whom you might disagree.
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It didn't take long for the potholes to appear after the first significant rain of fall. Many county roads have a failing road base which means the pot holes appear rapidly with wet roads.
Potholes will appear more rapidly and will be more wide spread as roads reach the end of their life. Over 50 percent of county roads are at or near the end of their useful life and will need to be rebuilt.
But the County's default policy is to let these roads continue to deteriorate until the only option is to grind them up into gravel or spend millions of dollars to rebuild the roads.
The County has a test section of dirt/gravel road on Sonoma Mountain Rd. in Bennett Valley. If you like dust and bumps, you will love this section of road.
Driving on pothole roads can damage your suspension, which is expensive to fix. Rough roads can also be dangerous for drivers and bicycle riders. Cars swerve or drive on the wrong side of the road to miss pot holes. Numerous bicycle accidents have occurred when bicyclist weren't able to avoid a pothole.
Take action now and join SOS Roads to us persuade the Board of Supervisors to not abandon our county roads.
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