Storm Damage Road Funding Comes Through

By Zach Friend. County Supervisor 2nd District

Winter and spring storms caused millions of dollars in damage to local roads, including a number of roads within our district. The County Board of Supervisors authorized a declaration of emergency to apply for funding from the California Office of Emergency Services for road repairs. Recently, some of the funding was approved. While this does not address all storm damage needs in our district it does begin to address some of the affected areas. Here is a list of some of the storm damaged sites in our district that will be repaired as well as another major road improvement project (outside of storm funding) planned for this summer.

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Buzzard Lagoon Road

Recent storms caused significant issues for road and slope stability and impaired vehicle access on Buzzard Lagoon Road. Work will provide for a pile wall with tiebacks, pavement repairs, a new berm and guardrail as well as drainage improvements to help prevent future damage.

Rider Road

Similar to Buzzard Lagoon, Rider Road has drainage issues, which have led to pavement failures. This funding will help provide improvements for drainage, a guardrail in one of the failed areas, a pile wall with tiebacks, pavement repairs and repaving at two different key locations on the road.

Cox Road

Heavy rains caused a large ditch (over 300 feet) to erode in several locations along the edge, causing loss of road embankment and exposure of utilities. The work here will install a culvert with headwall and junction structure with drainage points to significantly improve drainage. Additionally, drainage improvements will be made along the roadway to improve water flow. New paving will also be done along this section.

Valencia School Road

The work on Valencia School Road includes replacing a crossing culvert for improved drainage, including new headwalls, drains and repaving.

Trout Gulch Road

A 40-foot retaining wall and guardrail along the wall will be installed on Trout Gulch. In addition, a new berm, drains and paving along the damaged section will be completed.

Cathedral Drive

A 20-foot section of storm-damaged road will receive new backfill and berm work as well as repaving of the damaged section.

Freedom Boulevard

Outside of the storm damage, the Board approved a bid for long-awaited improvements on Freedom Blvd. The Freedom Blvd. Chip Seal Project is funded through State Transportation Improvement Program funds and local road funds. The project involves the construction of: pavement grinding, digouts, rubberized chip seal, striping, pavement markings, and adjusting street monuments to grade on Freedom Blvd from Hwy 1 to Pleasant Valley Rd. In addition, we are taking advantage of this opportunity to remove the striping, chip seal the approaches to the bridge over Hwy 1 and stripe in the bike lanes and green paint applications to improve bike safety in this area. Work on Freedom Blvd. is expected to be done this summer.

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While much more work needs to be done just to repair the storm damage throughout the county having this funding from the California Office of Emergency Services is an important step.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to call me at 454-2200.