On January 4, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is receiving a presentation on the Pavement Preservation Program. This map depicts the roads that received improvements last year (black lines) and those planned for this year (red lines).
We sent the following public comment to the Board as well as Transportation & Public Works Director Johannes Hoevertsz:
I’m happy to hear that the County continues to allocate discretionary dollars toward the Pavement Preservation Program. As someone who travels our County roads on two wheels as frequently as I do on four wheels, I would hope that the needs of cyclists be taken into account whenever and wherever a stretch of road is being sealed or paved. Far too frequently I have seen instances in which the bike lane has been striped incorrectly after repaving, or the new slurry hasn’t been extended all the way to the far edge of the shoulder/bike lane, leaving a dangerous “lip” or dropoff. I also believe that when the numeric condition of a road segment is being assigned, the staff doing the evaluation should give weight to pavement condition (potholes, cracks, encroaching vegetation, etc) in the shoulder/bike lane as well as to that in the motor vehicle lane. I have shared the map of planned improvements with my membership and will enlist their assistance in monitoring conditions before, during, and after this coming year’s paving activities to make sure that these objectives are achieved, so that our roads provide a safer and smoother ride for all users.
Have a look at the map and find the roads that you tend to ride the most and check out their condition. Let’s all keep a watchful eye when the paving starts!