LAKE COUNTY — The Department of Public Works Tuesday updated the Board of Supervisors (BOS) on road conditions and planned road work for the year for all county roads.
Public Works director Scott De Leon and assistant director Lars Ewing provided the update.
Ewing said Lake County has 615 total miles of county-maintained roads, 490 miles paved and 125 miles unpaved. He said county roads have improved in terms of the pavement condition index (PCI), a numerical scale from zero to 100 to rate road pavement conditions from “good-excellent” to “failed.”
Ewing said the Area Planning Council (APC) conducts a study every three years to determine PCI for county roads. He said all analysis removed roads in the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.
In 2008, the PCI for county roads was rated “poor,” with a numerical value of 32. In 2011, the PCI improved from 32 to 41. Ewing said the score is still lower than in 2005, when the roads were rated “at risk” with a score of 51.
Ewing said there are three classifications for county roads: arterial, collector and residential/local.
Arterial roads are high-capacity urban roads that deliver traffic to highways and between urban centers. Conditions on county arterial roads such as Bottle Rock Road improved greatly, with a score of 51 on the PCI, from a 30 in 2008. Arterial roads make up 2.6 percent of county roads.
Ewing said collector roads are low- to moderate-capacity roads that deliver traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Collector road conditions in Lake County improved by 11 points, from 36 in 2008 to 47 in 2011. Collector roads make up 39.4 percent of county roads. Residential/local roads also saw improvement on the PCI, gaining eight points to a score of 37. All three numbers are still below 2005 levels. Residential roads make up 55.5 percent of roads.
Comparing Lake County road conditions with surrounding counties using the PCI, the county is tied with Colusa at the bottom with the score of 41. Mendocino and Sonoma counties are tied at 45. Yolo County is in the “at risk” category with a score of 52, as are Napa County roads with a rating of 60. Glenn County roads scored 68, above the state average of 66.
Ewing and De Leon discussed road improvement plans for the year. Ewing said there are five ways roads are selected for improvement: recommendations from county road crews, pavement management system reports, intangible local concerns, availability of funding for specific projects, roads or bridges and citizen input.
Ewing said the following roads will be worked on this year:
Gaddy Lane, Dogwood Lane, Gordon Springs Drive, Kelsey Creek Drive East, Kelsey Creek Drive West, Madrone Drive, Crestwood Drive (unincorporated Clearlake), Elk Mountain Road, Government Street, Hartmann Road, Hill Road East, Mendenhall Avenue, Merritt Road, Middle Creek Road, North Drive, Soda Bay Road, Sulphur Bank Drive, Thirteenth Avenue, Melody Lane, Loch Lomond Road, Point Lakeview Road, Seigler Canyon Road, Bell Hill Road, Plunkett Lane, Renfro Drive, Big Valley Road, Stone Drive and Thomas Drive.
Ewing said some bridge repair work will be done by county bridge crews along Seigler Canyon Road, Fritch Road and Clark Drive. County crews will perform a total of 45 miles of roadwork.
Ewing said recurring roadwork has not been factored into the 2012 work plan. He said recurring activities are planned and include road grading, vegetation management, ditch clearing, pothole patching, sign maintenance, bridge maintenance, snow removal and paint striping.
Nearly all the roadwork is funded from non-recurring sources, Ewing said, adding discretionary transportation revenues are “woefully inadequate.” De Leon said funds the department counts on for road improvements is not increasing and is likely decreasing.
Various options to find new sources of revenue to provide for road maintenance were discussed, including a state gas tax increase, obtaining discretionary federal funding, implementing a transportation tax either as a sales tax or as a parcel tax, a refuse vehicle impact fee, a transportation impact fee and the development of a priority road network similar to Sonoma County.
BOS Chair Rob Brown didn”t think a sales tax increase to improve roads would be approved by voters. District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the sales tax increase would be the fairest option but the public would have to be sold on it.
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said a separate discussion about possible fee increases should happen, adding he was concerned a sales tax would not get enough support.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
