Community Corner

Petaluma Roads In "Poor" Condition

The Petaluma City Council held a special meeting on Monday to discuss pavement management and rehabilitation.

The health of Petaluma’s streets have consistently ranked the lowest of any city in Sonoma County, but there is little city officials can do to improve the roads while funding is scarce.

For now, all they can do is maintain the roadways and attempt to prevent further deterioration.

On Monday night, the Petaluma City Council began a discussion that centered on what to do about Petaluma's poor roadway conditions. 

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According to Larry Zimmer, capital improvement program manager, Petaluma roads received an average score of 45 out of 100 on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's pavement condition index, or PCI, which falls into the “poor” category.

The estimated cost to just maintain the current PCI rating of Petaluma’s streets is $2.4 million per year, and even more to repair all the potholes and degraded roads. 

Find out what's happening in Petalumawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The $2.4 million per year is a much lower estimate than the $6 to $7 million a year that Zimmer quoted to the council a few years ago.

“The PCI is the same, the need is the same, this is reflective of trying to change our methodology,” said Zimmer. “Predominantly you’re trying to preserve what you have, but at the same time you are trying to bring the others [streets] up.”

Ideally, if Petaluma wanted to increase its PCI rating to 70 out of 100 in the next ten years, it would cost the city $6.2 million a year.

“Everybody complains about the streets, we all complain about the streets, we would all like to do more,” Petaluma City Manager John Brown said.

“We want to make sure that you have a clear understanding of what it's going to take to do more and within that understanding what it is we’re doing to make that work better than it has in the past,” Brown continued.

Brown admits that in order to make improvements to the roads, the city would need to find an additional stream of revenue.

According to Council Member Gabe Kearney, “It’s like we’re already in a hole and we’re trying to dig our way out.”

The meeting adjourned with the issue to be deliberated at another date.

Tell us your opinion. How would you rate the roads in Petaluma? What streets in Petaluma need the most attention? Lets begin the conversation.


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