What do Richmond and Orinda Have in Common? Well, both cities had Bill Lindsay as a city manager, and Richmond still does. Both cities have a recent LEED rated city hall project. Orinda’s is completed, and Richmond’s is still underway – without Orinda’s operable windows, I might add. Some folks who live along the Richmond shoreline even call Richmond “Orinda by the Bay.” I could go on and on.

But none of those is what I was referring to. What is remarkable is that Richmond and Orinda share the cellar for cities in Bay Area street condition ratings. Sonoma County is still last, as it was last year(see Richmond Has Second Worst Roads in Bay Area, October 18, 2006).

Misery loves company, they say, and I can’t think of better company than Orinda.

Orinda’s affluent voters rejected bond issues in November 2006 and in June 2007, each for nearly $60 million, to be used for street repair.

The MTC data on which the ratings were based are from reports submitted in 2006. For detailed information from MTC, see December 18, 2007 — “Bay Area Pavement Quality Only Fair.” Richmond has actually ramped up its expenditures on street repair and reconstruction substantially in the last year, and residents are noticing. Whether this will finally boost us out of the cellar remains to be seen.

Most of Bay Area roads rated 'fair'

By Kelli Phillips

STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 12/19/2007 02:56:24 PM PST

Most Bay Area roadways are seriously worn and will likely require rehabilitation soon, according to a report released today by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Pavement conditions on a majority of the region's 40,000 miles of local streets and roads earned a "fair" grade in 2006 while the overall "pavement condition index" rose one point over the 2003-05 average.

"It's encouraging to see we're at least holding the line against the wear and tear caused by traffic, weather and time," said Bill Dodd, MTC chairman and Napa County supervisor. "But there's a lot of work still to be done."

The index ranked cities out of 100 possible points into six categories: excellent (90-100), very good (80-89), good (70-79), fair (60-69), at risk (50-59) and poor (25-49).

No Bay Area city scored in the "excellent" range, which is reserved for "newly built or resurfaced streets that show little to no distress," the report said.

Of 108 participating cities, 12 scored in the "very good" range with pavement that shows slight to moderate distress requiring mostly preventative maintenance.

Brentwood, California's 12th fastest growing city, and Los Altos shared the top spot at 85 points each while Livermore scored 79, Walnut Creek 72, Pittsburg 65, Berkeley 62, Oakland 56 and Richmond 46.

The road data is collected by individual cities and counties using software developed by the transportation committee. "This way we really are comparing apples with apples," said MTC spokesman John Goodwin.

Not surprisingly, suburban communities with newer streets are frequently found near the top of the list while older and more rural areas often score lower.

"Brentwood, being a growing city with a lot of new roads, has been at or near the top of the list consistently, but, by the same token so is unincorporated Contra Costa County, which has made it a real priority to invest in preventative (road) maintenance," Goodwin said.

On the other hand, the Bay Area's largest three-year decline came in Orinda, which dropped from a score of 74 in 2003 to 46 in 2006.

"This shows just how urgent the need for additional funding really is," said Orinda city councilmember and MTC commissioner Amy Worth.

The city has been researching other ways to fund the $150 million needed to repair its 192 miles of roads after bond measures in November 2006 and in June, each for nearly $60 million, were rejected by voters.

"The state gasoline tax traditionally has been the biggest source of funds for local street and road maintenance, but that tax has been the same 18 cents per gallon since 1994, and its purchasing power erodes each year," Worth said.

Reach Kelli Phillips at 925-945-4745 or kphillips@bayareanewsgroup.com.

pci index

Pavement Condition Index (PCI) for Bay Area Jurisdictions in 2006.

Three-year moving average, except for Walnut Creek, which is in its first year of reporting.

Very Good (PCI=80-89)

Brentwood: 85

Contra Costa County: 83

Oakley: 83

Dublin: 80

Good (PCI=70-79)

Livermore: 79

Concord: 78

Clayton: 75

Hercules: 75

Danville: 74

Pleasanton: 74

San Ramon: 74

Walnut Creek: 72

Pinole: 71

Antioch: 70

Benicia: 70

Fair (PCI=60-69)

Alameda County: 69

Piedmont: 67

San Pablo: 67

Pittsburg: 65

Lafayette: 64

City of Alameda: 63

Albany: 62

Berkeley: 62

Pleasant Hill: 62

Moraga: 61

Solano County: 58

Martinez: 57

Vallejo: 54

El Cerrito 5 3

Rio Vista: 51

Poor (PCI=25-49)

Richmond: 46

Orinda: 46