ROAD CONDITIONS IN OAKLAND

Last year, the roads in San Francisco-Oakland were ranked the worst in the country. A whopping twenty-three percent of Oakland streets are in poor condition. It's both disturbing and dangerous. 

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

You'll notice many of the cities with the worst road conditions are in California. That's because the cost to repair our roads have skyrocketed, while both the state and federal governments have actually been cutting our road funding year after year. We're now left with years of deferred maintenance.

Recent weather conditions have made the problem even worse. Our severe five-year drought followed by this year's record-breaking rains were a one-two punch, causing unprecedented pavement damage and some epic potholes. The rains also delayed repairs, as we generally can't fill potholes until the pavement and underlying roadbed have dried.

HELP IS ON THE WAY! ONLY 4 WEEKS 'TIL THE POTHOLE BLITZ

Despite the rain, maintenance crews have filled more than 6,800 potholes since January. And our biggest push begins in just four weeks - Oakland's annual Pothole Blitz. Starting June 12th, our Streets & Sidewalks Crews will spend one week in each Council District, moving from east to west across the City.

MAKE SURE WE KNOW ABOUT YOUR WORST POTHOLES! REPORT THEM BEFORE THE BLITZ!

We count on people like you to be our eyes and ears and let us know where things need to be fixed. You can report potholes, as well as other things the city should fix one of three ways:

Be sure to report the location of your

favorite potholes in time for the summer blitz!

While we're struggling to keep up with these demands, I want to recognize the work of our streets and sidewalks crews - who've gone from filling 9,700 potholes annually to 15,000 annually in just three years!

WHEN WILL MEASURE KK FIX MY ROADS?

While necessary in the short term, filling potholes is really just a Band-Aid approach. Many Oakland roads need complete reconstruction or at least resurfacing. Luckily last November, Oakland voters passed the Measure KK infrastructure bond with an overwhelming 82% approval!

The Measure KK infrastructure bond will generate $350 million for roadwork over the next ten years (it will also generate $250 million for affordable housing and facility repairs). We are currently going through the approvals necessary for us to issue the first portion of these bonds this fall.

Meanwhile, we're increasing our capacity to do much more roadwork with our new Department of Transportation (OakDOT), which just welcomed its first permanent Director Ryan Russo last week. Measure KK's bond funds will dramatically increase the number of blocks we pave every year for the next decade. 

Thanks to this bond, we're accelerating our current five-year paving plan. As a result, we'll repave 73 miles of roads or 1,104 blocks by the end of 2019. This map shows the streets that are in the current plan. You can also download the full list of streets by name.

Oakland's Pavement Management Program

While executing this plan, we will simultaneously start developing our next five-year plan with our increased funding, commitment to equity and community engagement in mind.

Because I'm determined to fix our roads and ensure Oaklanders get around safely, I created Oakland's first DOT and hired the first Policy Director for Transportation and Infrastructure to the Mayor, Matt Nichols. Recently, Matt was instrumental in helping me work with OUSD and AC Transit to preserve bus service for Skyline, Community Day and Montera students.

If you have any questions about the state of Oakland's roads, please contact Matt Nichols at [email protected] or (510) 238-7608.

With Oakland-love,

Libby

P.s. Don't forget to report those dreadful potholes on   SeeClickFix or to [email protected] within the next four weeks!