With the arrival last year of Harry Mavrogenes as the new director of the San Benito County Resource Management Agency, the county began gearing up to address heavily trafficked roads. Mavrogenes brought forth and got approval from the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 8 to spend $11 million on local roads through the Measure G Quick Start Road Improvement Project Program in combination with the county’s Enterprise Fund, which is revenue from the John Smith Landfill.
Historically, San Benito County has struggled to keep up with road and street maintenance. The county has an average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of about 36 for 347.30 miles of roads. PCI is a rating system that grades road conditions on a scale of 0-100.
Mavrogenes told BenitoLink the county finally has a decent amount of money through Measure G, the Enterprise Fund and the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017—also known as Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)—to address the roads. He said the county came up with a list of repairs based on condition and the amount of traffic they handle.
“At the end of the day the public is going to see vastly improved road surfaces, smooth surfaces that they can drive on not worrying about their suspension or running into a big pothole,” Mavrogenes said.
Projects completed this year with SB 1 funds, which come from an increase in state vehicle registration fees and gas taxes, include locations at Fairview, Union and Southside roads, along with F Street in Hollister for $1.05 million.
Mavrogenes said this summer will continue to be busy, as several projects have begun and others will begin soon. Projects include overlays and slurry seals, depending on the condition of the roads.
SB 1 projects underway amount to $2.04 million and include:
- Fairview Road from Ludis Lane to Highway 156
- Union Road near Union Heights
- Cienega Road from Hospital Road to Hidden Valley
- Southside Road near Blossom Road
- Crestview Lane near Valley View Road
- Hillcrest Road near Busby Court
- Hospital Road from Cienega Road to Cowden Road
Measure G projects underway amount to $1.89 million and include:
- Union Road near Southside Road
- Buena Vista Road near Highway 156
The Enterprise Fund will cover $2.98 million for two projects:
- Best Road from Highway 25 to John Smith Road
- Fairview Road from Rosa Morada Road to McCloskey Road
Among the projects that will soon be underway is the 5000 block of Southside Road, San Benito Street, Wright Road, Shore Road, Fairview/Fallon intersection improvements, Shore Road/Frazier Lake intersection, Cienega Road, Carr Avenue and various locations on Cole and Anzar roads.
The blessing in disguise for San Benito County is that the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled local government to take on projects at a lower cost.
“That is an incredibly good benefit for us right now,” Mavrogenes said. “This means we may be able to do more roads.”
The county has done well in maintaining traffic flow, Mavrogenes said, while repairing arterial roads such as Union and Fairview with only minor delays. The other challenge is keeping trucks off the resurfaced roads to allow the new layer to settle.
Mavrogenes said an equally important project the county has taken on is obtaining federal funds to repair eight bridges. He said the largest of the projects is the Union Road bridge, currently in the design process. He estimates it will cost $55 million to repair. Another bridge that is now under repair is on Hospital Road, and is estimated to cost $14 million.
The project list includes bridges located on Shore and San Felipe roads, Rosa Morada Road, Limekiln Road, Anzar Road, Rocks Road and Panoche Road. Mavrogenes said 90% of the money for the bridge projects is from federal funds, and the state is providing funds for the remainder.
“These are very critical safety projects and they need to be done,” Mavrogenes said. “You don’t realize how many bridges we cross over every day as we come back and forth in the community and their safety is very critical.”
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