Online street repair info improved
Streets andMeasure Y information nowmore accessible
The City of Ukiah has been making changes to its website so information about how it is spending sales tax dollars on street repairs is easier for residents to find, Deputy City Manager Shannon Riley announced recently.
“The website could have been more user-friendly, I’ll say,” Riley told the Ukiah City Council at its last meeting Jan 15, explaining that staff members have been making changes to the website “so that the information about our streets and Measure Y, the sales tax measure designed to provide more funding for street repairs, is more accessible. Slowly, but steadily, it is becomingamuchmore robust tool.”
First and foremost, Riley said that the pages on streets are now under the tab “Residents” as their own section and no longer under
Public Works, “because people don’t necessarily know that streets fall under Public Works, so we made it easier to find.”
On the first page there are now contact numbers for reporting common issues such as potholes, graffiti, inoperative traffic signals and road hazards. Down below are pages explaining, “how the city makes decisions on which street to repair,” Riley said, as residents often want to know “why is one street getting fixed when there are still potholes in front of my house?”
To help answer how repairs are prioritized, there is a “Pavement Condition Map,” which Riley described as a “really, fun interactive tool” that shows you “all of the major streets in Ukiah” and whether they are in the best condition (green) or the worst (red).
“You can also zoom in and get very specific information about your neighborhood,” Riley said, adding that the three most common ways a street can be improved (slurry seal, overlay and reconstruction) are also explained in detail, with associated costs included.
“Another thing we never had on the website before is the Street Sweeper Schedule,” Riley said.
“So now you can find your neighborhood and when a street sweeper is scheduled to come by.”
As for Measure Y specifically, Riley said “there is a complete summary of how the funds have been spent in each of the fiscal years since it was adopted,” and that much of the information she described will be outlined in a flier delivered to residents in upcoming utility bills.
Council member Maureen Mulheren thanked staff members for the updates made to the website, describing it as “easy to use and understand, and I point people to this page on a daily basis, because (Measure Y and street repairs) are common questions.”