The Pothole Report: Pleasanton recognized for quality road maintenance

A recent study of the 43,000 miles of paved road found in the Bay Area — almost double the distance it takes to circumnavigate the globe — has recognized Pleasanton as having some of the best maintained and highest quality streets in the region.

Released by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the aptly titled “Pothole Report” analyzed the quality and maintenance efforts of the region’s nine counties and 101 cities, and found that Pleasanton had the 15th highest quality roads in the Bay Area.

Achieving a pavement condition index (PCI) rating of 79 out of a perfect 100, the 512 miles of roadway found in Pleasanton handily outscored the regional rating of 67 PCI. It should be noted that while 67 may not seem high, officials said it is a marked improvement from 2003’s ranking of 63.

“We understand the quality of our city streets is important to our community. City engineering staff works diligently to implement a Pavement Management Program that guides a comprehensive three-year planning cycle to balance limited funding for roadway maintenance and reconstruction while providing good conditions across all city streets,” said Steve Kirkpatrick, Pleasanton’s director of engineering.

A municipality’s PCI is calculated by analyzing pavement age, regional climate, traffic congestion and available maintenance funding, according to the MTC. Cities with new housing developments and new streets may have a high overall PCI, while older, urbanized municipalities may have a much lower PCI, even though both are practicing pavement preservation.

Pleasanton helped bring up the relatively low Alameda County rating of 68, which is dragged down by Oakland’s low rating of 55 PCI.

Neighboring Dublin received the highest rating in the Bay Area report with an average PCI score of 85, and San Ramon was ranked just outside of the top 10 at the 11th spot with a rating of 80 PCI. Pleasanton barely edged out Livermore’s rating of 78 followed by Danville’s rating of 77.

The lowest-ranked streets were found in the Marin County city of Larkspur, which recorded a score of 42 PCI.

In this year’s study, the MTC took time to acknowledge the overall rating decreases of road quality should Senate Bill 1 — the Road Repair and Accountability Act — be repealed by voters in November, claiming that the estimated $5.4 billion per year loss in maintenance funding may lead to a 10-point decrease over as many years.

“Additional funding such as from SB 1 is critical in keeping up with the demands of maintaining Pleasanton’s 512 lane miles of streets,” Kirkpatrick added.