Hollister
– Potholes are one of the classic measures of the quality of
local government. According to conventional wisdom, if the potholes
aren’t getting fixed, your representative isn’t doing his job. But
before calling the City Council to complain about a bumpy drive,
Hollister residents may want to make
sure they’re actually on a city road.
Hollister – Potholes are one of the classic measures of the quality of local government. According to conventional wisdom, if the potholes aren’t getting fixed, your representative isn’t doing his job. But before calling the City Council to complain about a bumpy drive, Hollister residents may want to make sure they’re actually on a city road.
Officials said there are a number of roads in town that are controlled by both the city and the county. Sometimes they alternate between stretches of city and county road; sometimes one lane is controlled by the city, the other by the county. Buena Vista Road, according to City Associate Civil Engineer David Rubcic, contains “four or five pockets” of county road.
“I think it’s normal for this to happen in cities and towns that are growing,” said Ray Rojas, street supervisor for the city’s public works department.
City and county boundaries can make a real difference when the roads are being repaired. For example, the coming paving of Valley View and Cienega roads is a city project. Rubcic said segments of the road that are entirely within city jurisdiction will get repaired, as will those shared between the city and county. However, the portions of the road that are entirely within county jurisdiction will go unrepaired.
“Because of the lack of money, the county cannot participate at this time,” County Public Works Director Jerry Lo said.
Rubcic said the city will do the work and, if the Board of Supervisors approves the agreement, the city will be reimbursed for paving the road segments in county jurisdiction. The funding for these repairs comes from several sources, Rubcic said; the first phase will be paid for by a $4.5 million state transportation grant.
“Cities don’t normally get big-time dollars like that,” he said.
The city and the county have teamed together in the past, Lo said, and the county has fully paid to for its portion of those projects. He said that right now, San Benito County just doesn’t have enough money to keep its roads in good condition.
“At every place I’ve worked, there’s never been enough money for infrastructure,” Lo said. “I’m hoping that if the state bond measure passes, we’ll have enough money to take care of the roads.”
Councilwoman Monica Johnson said she’s been getting complaints about unrepaired roads that are actually in county jurisdiction.
“It all looks like part of the city, so it looks like the city dropped the ball,” she said. “They don’t understand that if we pave the county portions, we’re going to have to charge the county. We’re not going to spend city funds on county streets.”
When asked about segments of county streets – such as portions of Sunnyslope Road – that have fallen into disrepair, Rojas said he believes the county is “doing the best they can” to deal with road repairs.
“It just depends on scheduling and manpower,” he said. “It also depends on the severity – if it’s a real hazard, we’ll get to it more quickly.”
Rojas also offered tips for telling whether a road falls under the jurisdiction of the city, the county or the California Department of Transportation. Caltrans roads have signs on square metal poles, county roads have signs on wooden poles and city roads have signs on round metal poles, he said.
The county is looking at solutions, Lo said. He pointed out that one way to avoid expensive repairs or construction is to keep up with routine maintenance, and said that the “cheap seal” program, which the county just gave $250,000, is a “real cheap way to maintain the road.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
