San Benito County public works employees maintain 386 miles of roadways on a budget of $400,000 a year.
Steve Wittry, the public works director, reported that number at a recent meeting and said he anticipates the county will continue to receive similar funding over the next two years.
Wittry gave a presentation on the department’s strategy of road maintenance at the March 5 San Benito County Board of Supervisors meeting.
The majority of roads outside the city limits in San Benito County are what Wittry referred to as chipped roads, meaning they were built over historic trails or paths with what material was available at the time. He said the material was compacted and a chip coat was applied, with successive layers applied that form the pavement. The roads were not designed to carry the volume or size of current traffic, especially roads such as Fairview and Union roads.
Wittry went over the different types of failures that happen on local roads, such as pavement that cracks after it has aged or been stressed by vehicles traveling on it. Ultraviolet light can also degrade the asphalt emulsion over time. In both cases, once the roadways begin to crack, the roads can quickly deteriorate as water gets into the cracks and into the road base.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho asked if there is a way to ensure agriculture companies do not add to the problem by running sprinklers on roadways or tracking mud onto the roadways.
“With ag operators a balance has to be struck,” Wittry said, adding that San Benito County does not have an ordinance in place that addresses such a concern.
Wittry said the California Highway Patrol can site businesses for creating a nuisance or public safety issue but it would have to be an extreme case for them to get involved.
County workers continuously fill potholes with one of two pothole machine. One of the cheapest ways to repair roadways is to get to them before they have too much damage with a chip or slurry seal. The chip or slurry seal costs $.20 or $.35 per square foot to repair. The asphalt overlay costs between $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot and replacing the base layer costs $6 a square-foot.
Public works recently completed chip seals on Fairview Road, Wright Road and King City Road. The next priorities include Fairview Road to Highway 156, Shore Road from Dunneville to Frazier Lake, Union and San Justo roads.
The chip seal on four miles of Fairview Road cost $134,000. He said replacing the base layer would have used up the entire budget for the year on a half-mile stretch.
Road maintenance in San Benito County is not funded out of the county’s general fund but comes from gas taxes. Wittry said his staff is continuously looking for grant sources as well.
For the 2013-14 fiscal year, the department has budgeted $200,000 for the county’s main roads, such as Fairview and Union. About $100,000 will go to rebuild chip seals on roads such as Riverside, Bixby and Panoche. The remaining $100,000 will be used for maintenance of the pothole machines, striping machine and crack-filling operations.
By the numbers:
San Benito County
Miles maintained: 386
No. of road workers: 11
Miles per worker: 35
Monterey County
Miles maintained: 1,240
No. of road workers: 55
Miles per worker: 22
Santa Cruz County
Miles maintained: 599
No. of road workers: 95
Miles per worker: 6
Santa Clara County
Miles maintained: 529
No. of road workers: 144
Miles per worker: 4
