San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
ROAD CONDITIONS A FRUSTRATION
Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Mountain Ranch residents seek solutions
New potholes that developed during the recent rains have exasperated drivers who for years have been bumping along streets such as Carmel Mountain Road and World Trade Drive in Carmel Mountain Ranch and Bernardo Center Drive and Poblado Road in Rancho Bernardo.
“We hear about streets all the time,” said Eric Edelman, the Carmel Mountain Ranch/sabre Springs Community Council chairman since 2018. “Mostly it is from residents, as we do not have a ton of interaction with the business owners.”
Edelman said for years the group has shared those concerns with its San Diego District 5 City Council member’s representatives.
“The City Council people ... listen to us and do what they can, but it seems the city bureaucracy is over bloated,” he said. “Street repairs are reactionary. They fill potholes, but those are a temporary fix that come right back. The streets need to be paved, but the City Council ... does not have the authority to get something done right now. It is pretty frustrating, actually.”
Residents have shared with Edelman and the community council that their vehicles, or those of a family member, have been damaged due to potholes.
City officials, including District 5
City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and Mayor Todd Gloria, have stated they are aware of the streets situation and have made finding a long-term solution a priority.
Von Wilpert pushed for $700,000 to be allocated in the fiscal year 2022 budget for a new citywide streets condition assessment. The city is still basing its replacement priorities on 2015 data.
Gloria recently announced the survey started March 1.
Robin Kaufman, chair of the
Rancho Bernardo Community Council and the Rancho Bernardo Planning Board, said she also hears complaints from residents, the majority from Westwood.
“It is one of the older neighborhoods in the community, so it is not as well maintained,” said Kaufman, who lives in Westwood.
One of the most visible is Bernardo Center Drive, a main street in Rancho Bernardo’s business district that has needed road improvements for years. The problems are most noticeable near its intersection with Rancho Bernardo Road.
“The city is just too big to maintain everything,” Kaufman said. “It’s a shame.”
Von Wilpert, who led the City Council’s Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from 2020-22, has expressed her frustrations with the slowness of getting streets repaired. She pushed for the new citywide streets condition assessment.
Catherine Gerhart, von Wilpert’s deputy chief of staff, said part of the problem is that the city has been basing its road repair priorities on 8-year-old data. According to that 2015 survey, Carmel Mountain Road, Bernardo Center Drive and Poblado Road are in “good” and “fair” condition. World Trade Drive was assessed as “fair.”
Gerhart said von Wilpert has been a “consistent advocate” for the streets in her district and street conditions are among the top complaints reported to her office by constituents.
“Once we have the data ... for all these roads we know they will have a lower rating,” Gerhart said.
On Feb. 22, von Wilpert and District 1 City Councilmember Joe Lacava sent a memo to the mayor requesting a rolling five-year work plan for slurry seal and street resurfacing.
Von Wilpert and Lacava also recommended collaboration in managing street work since multiple departments manage slurry seal and street resurfacing projects. A streamlined system under a single department would bring additional efficiencies, they wrote.