Bay Area pothole report: Larkspur continues improvement
Larkspur’s strategy to ask voter approval of tax measures to rehabilitate the city’s network of roads is paying off, a recent report shows.
The city, where roads have historically ranked among the worst in the Bay Area, has become the only municipality in the nine-county region to outpace Oakland’s year-over-year improvement, according to the 2021 pavement condition index.
Larkspur registered an 11-point increase to 76 in 2021, compared to a 65 in 2020. The three-year blended average is a 67 PCI rating, which is considered “fair.”
“It’s good to get the validation,” said Julian Skinner, Larkspur’s director of public works. Skinner said city officials went to the voters in 2013 to approve Measure C to repair roads. Then, with the approval of 2017’s Measure B, the city issued about $25 million in bonds with a promise to complete the job over a five-year period.
“We’re finishing our last year of that program, and will have completed every road in the city,” Skinner said.
The PCI report by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional planning and funding agency, scores roads in all nine Bay Area counties each year based on the number of cracks, potholes, patching, rutting and depressions they have. The report scores roads on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being a newly paved road.
Because the PCI score is a three-year blended average, Skinner said he expects the score to keep climbing over the next two reporting cycles.
“We anticipate it will be in the 80s,” he said. “If we can keep the pavement overall between the 75 and low-80s range, that is the most cost effective to maintain streets.”
For comparison, Oakland’s single-year score jumped to 58 points in 2021 from a 49. The three-year average rose one point to 53, which is considered “at-risk.”
Collectively, Marin County roads had a score last year of 66, which is considered “fair” and indicates roads are at significant risk of breaking down. The county has received the same score since 2018.
Similar to the past few years, Marin’s score is the third from last — higher than Napa and Sonoma counties, which each scored a 55.
For the sixth straight year, the Bay Area region recorded a 67, which underscores the continuing challenges facing public works departments across the nine counties, according the MTC officials.
“The new pavement data is a bit of a mixed bag,” said Alfredo Pedroza, MTC chair and a Napa County supervisor.
“The good news is that our counties and cities have been able to prevent major deterioration, thanks in large part to the state gas tax money they receive through the SB 1 local streets and roads program,” he said. “The bad news is we’re still a long way away from our goal of bringing the Bay Area’s streets and roads into a state of good repair, which would raise the regional average into the mid-80s.”
Of the 12 Marin jurisdictions, four remained in the “good” category with scores between 70 and 79. Belvedere’s score was unchanged at 71, but Ross, Tiburon and Mill Valley had scores drop. Ross notched the highest score for Marin at 77.
In the “fair” category — 60 to 69 — San Anselmo, Novato and Sausalito had scores drop, while Corte Madera and San Rafael ratings were unchanged. Unincorporated Marin improved by one point to 65.
Fairfax is the only jurisdiction that has dropped into the “at-risk” category — 50 to 59 — in recent years. The town’s score has declined from 60 in 2019, to 58 in the last report and now 56.
Mayor Chance Cutrano said the Town Council agreed in 2021 to hire a public works director to steer road repair and maintenance projects after the town went nearly a decade without a dedicated staff member at the helm of the department. Cutrano said the town manager had been juggling the role to cut costs.
Loren Umbertis, who worked as a public works contractor for the city of Sausalito for 11 years, was hired in August to direct the department on a $159,810 annual salary. The town also approved a $5.7 million capital improvement budget to tackle storm drain projects as well as road repair and maintenance projects.
“My vision is that we look to our friends in Larkspur who has had a really successful turnaround in a very short period,” Cutrano said. “Now that we have the staff in place to actually help us spend that money, we’re shooting to have a similar success story to what Larkspur experienced in the last few years.”
When asked if that means town officials will go to the voters with a new tax, Cutrano said now is not the right time for that.
“I want us to demonstrate what work we can do with the money we do have and the team we do have now,” he said. “If we want to speed that up, maybe as a community we can have that conversation.”
Marin road scores
Road quality scores for Marin County jurisdictions in 2021. Scoring is as follows: failed, 0-24; poor, 25-49; at risk, 50-59; fair, 60-69; good, 70-79; very good, 80-89; excellent: 90-100.
Marin County (aggregate): 67
Belvedere: 71
Corte Madera: 66
Fairfax: 56
Larkspur: 67
Mill Valley: 72
Novato: 67
Ross: 77
San Anselmo: 67
San Rafael: 65
Sausalito: 60
Tiburon: 75
Unincorporated Marin: 66
Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission Pavement Condition Index 2021