This year, San José’s Department of Transportation plans to repave and repair nearly three times as many streets as it did the previous year as the first part of a nine-year strategy that will pave 1400 miles of local and residential roads.
San José, CA– Today, the City of San José, Valley Transportation Authority, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group celebrated San José’s 2019 Pavement Maintenance Program. This year’s program is the first in recent memory to be fully funded, thanks to voter support for Measure B, Measure T, and Senate Bill 1. San José will repave and repair nearly 300 miles of major and residential streets during the 2019 pavement maintenance season.
“This summer, San Joséans will start spotting road repaving crews throughout our city, as we pave nearly 300 miles of deteriorating streets – more than we’ve repaired in two decades,” said Mayor Liccardo. “Thanks to our collective efforts to pass 2016 Measure B and 2018 Measure T, and to defeat 2018 Prop 6, we have finally secured the stable funding we need to repave every local and neighborhood street over the next decade.”
Since 2012, budget shortfalls forced the City to focus its pavement maintenance efforts only on major roadways. Local and residential streets were maintained only through pothole repair, rather than full repaving.
“We are ecstatic to see our local neighborhood streets paved, for far too long our community has suffered increased expenses to their pocketbooks due to blown tires, traffic accidents, and needed alignments. For our poorest families, this could be mean the difference of paying for a car repair and putting food on the table. Our families rely on smooth roads to go to and from work, take their children to school, and run errands. This is good government delivering on our promise to maintain our most basic infrastructure,” said Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco.
Voter support of Measure B and Measure T (passed with 61% and 71% of the vote respectively) along with the funds from SB 1 will provide approximately $87 million per year, on average, over ten years for pavement maintenance. This funding will allow the City to resume regular maintenance of its local and neighborhood roads while maintaining its efforts on major roadways.
“The Silicon Valley Leadership Group and our members were proud to lead 2016’s Yes on Measure B campaign and play a role in the statewide strategy to protect SB 1 funding. We are thrilled that right now voters can see positive transit changes and improvements that provide smoother commutes and safer travels for the residents of San Jose,” said Carl Guardino, President, and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
“VTA is proud to be a part of the solution to improve mobility in Santa Clara County with programs like these made possible by Measure B taxpayers dollars,” said VTA General Manager and CEO Nuria Fernandez.
With these new funds, San José’s Department of Transportation has set an ambitious goal of repaving and repairing 200 miles of the smaller streets, while also improving 88 miles of major streets, in 2019. Over the next nine years, 1400 miles of local and neighborhood streets will receive upgrades. In less than a decade, the condition of San José’s streets will be upgraded at least four points, to the highest end of the “fair” range, according to the pavement condition index (PCI).
“A pavement maintenance program of this scale is a long time coming for San José,” said Transportation Director John Ristow. “Our team has been preparing for two years and is excited to get these local and neighborhood streets back into the kind of condition our residents expect and deserve.”
The Pavement Maintenance Program also provides an opportunity for San José to make its streets accessible to all residents. By continuing to implement the San José Complete Streets Design Standards and Guidelines during the pavement maintenance process, San José will create safer roads that support multiple modes of transportation, including bikes, e-scooters, and pedestrians. Additionally, over 2,000 street corners will become more wheelchair accessible with the addition of ADA curb ramps.
Ahmad Chapman, Office of Mayor Liccardo: 408-535-4840 or ahmad.chapman@sanJoseca.gov
Colin Heyne, Department of Transportation: 408-975-3705 or colin.heyne@sanjoseca.gov
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