The latest on long overdue El Camino Real road repairs
Q On April 9, 2020, I cut out your column and taped it to my wall, a column in which you stated that Caltrans scheduled
“El Camino Real to be repaved from Highway 237 to San Mateo County in 2021.”
A few potholes on El Camino have been filled in Mountain View, none in Palo Alto. The state has tons of money to pay for this work. Why isn't it getting done?
— Ed King, Sunnyvale
A Oh man, this is a hot-button issue. The date got pushed back. Pavement work on El Camino Real from Grant Road through Mountain View and Palo Alto is now scheduled for later this summer.
California has a $52 billion statewide maintenance work backlog. The higher gas tax approved a few years ago brings in about $5 billion a year, and more money comes from the infrastructure bill pushed by President Joe Biden a year ago. Still, there is a gap in needed repairs and the funding to complete it all.
You're one of many drivers frustrated by El Camino. Read on.
Q El Camino Real between Highway 85 in Mountain View and San Antonio Road in Palo Alto has so many metal plates, built-up asphalt mounds and potholes that I'm concerned about our tires and suspensions of our vehicles.
— Steve Klesczewski
A You should be.
Q El Camino Real, the Royal Road, is in miserable condition. Driving through Palo Alto, Los Altos and Mountain View, the road surface had deteriorated to the point where the SUV I was driving was bouncing around like it did when I explored Death Valley's Titus Canyon.
An SUV is theoretically capable of handling rougher roads than most passenger vehicles, but the El Camino surface was so poor that I worried, nonetheless. Considering I'd borrowed the vehicle from my mother, I was concerned I'd have to call her about a need for vehicle repairs caused by poor road maintenance.
— Jim Thurber, Mountain View
A I hope your mom is understanding.
Q When they will finally clean up El Camino Real between San Antonio Road and the Highway 85 interchange? It's embarrassing that we're in the heart of Silicon Valley and have roads like this.
— Vivien D'Andrea
A It is, indeed.
Q Between Grant Road and San Antonio there are so many potholes and dips you'd better wear a mouth guard so you don't lose teeth!
— Anne Kusian,
Mountain View
A And …
Q As anyone who drives El Camino Real on the Peninsula knows, it is a mess, a disgrace and it has been so for many years. Can't we do better? — Daniel Lilienstein, Palo Alto
A At last, repairs appear to be just around the bend.