SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Fixing San Diego’s streets was one of Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s top priorities when he took office, and now he believes they’re on schedule to reach his goal of repairing more than 3,000 miles of roads.
About a decade ago, it took crews an entire year to get about 24 miles of street repairs done in the city. Now, crews are averaging 25 miles of street repair a month.
Kris McFadden, director of San Diego’s Transportation & Storm Water Department, said the pandemic helped them get the work done without causing much backups on the roads.
“We staggered working times, people coming in different times. So, we were able to do a lot of repairs, especially when people weren’t driving on the roads,” said McFadden.
Faulconer said, “When I ran for mayor, there was no issue that San Diegans complained about more than streets, so we have been on a mission over the past six years to bring smooth streets to neighborhoods across the city. We overhauled the repair program to speed up fixes, made record investments in street repair, and are on pace to fix half of all City streets by the end of the year. The robust program we now have in place fixes hundreds of miles annually and I strongly encourage the next Mayor to keep the pedal to the metal until every San Diegan can experience a freshly paved street outside their front door.”
In a news release, city officials said crews “completed repair work on some of the City’s busiest streets including completing repairs to North Harbor Drive, Fairmont Avenue, Montezuma Road, and a network of streets in Mission Bay that have not seen a major facelift in nearly two decades. Construction on Scripps Poway Parkway is underway and anticipated to be completed in December.”
Even though the city is on track to repave half of the its entire street network by the end of the year, City Councilmember Vivian Moreno said there’s more work that needs to be done, specifically on dirt and gravel roads in neighborhoods like Stockton.
Moreno sent ABC 10News a statement that read, in part: “These dirt streets are vestiges of the past maintained by policies that are over six decades old.”
The city says they’re looking at this request, but the plan is to finish the repairs that have already been scheduled to meet the goal by the end of the year.
