Sonoma County To Repave 51 Miles Of Roadway

HEALDSBURG, CA — Sonoma County Transportation officials are nearing the completion of an ambitious construction schedule that includes repaving 51 miles of road. This surpassed the the number of miles repaved for the last two years.

The county was also in the midst of replacing two bridges that would be strong enough to withstand an earthquake.

Sonoma County preserves and maintains 1,369 miles of roadway and 328 bridges, which serve as the largest road network in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“As the 2020 season comes to a close, we can check another 51 miles off the list. And with dozens of other infrastructure projects underway," said Susan Gorin, chair of Board of Supervisors. "I want to applaud our hard-working team members out there getting it done for Sonoma County residents.”

Other projects include the removal and replacement of 10 damaged cross-culverts, traffic safety improvements on River Road at Hart Lane and reconstructing a retaining wall after multiple disastrous landslides occurred on Old Cazadero Road, Geysers Road, Old Monte Rio Road, and King Ridge Road.

The county chooses roads to repave based on what is allowed in a two-year budget cycle. Officials take several factors into consideration, including pavement condition, design location, type and usage.

"Because state gas tax funding for roads is distributed based on the number of vehicle registrations rather than the number of road miles, rural counties receive disproportionally less road funding," Sonoma County officials said in a statement.

The Board of Supervisors offsets this concern with general fund contributions for repaving roads, officials said. For example, from 2013 to 2019, the BOD committed $93, million to repave 382 miles of roadway, according to an official statement. The total budget for the Pavement Preservation Program for 2020 and 2021 is $37 million.

The total costs of these projects came out to $50 million.

“During this time of year, Sonoma County residents are used to seeing our work crews on road construction sites throughout the county," Gorin said. "It is always gratifying when we can see the result and benefit of that labor and investment,”