Fullerton officials are moving to fix some of the city’s roads – one of the longest standing issues in town, with residents routinely calling for street repairs.
It comes as city council members earmarked more funding for road repairs, along with using some infrastructure maintenance as a chance to get fresh pavement.
According to a staff report, roughly $3.7 million in repair money is slated to come from Senate Bill 1, the road repair and accountability act, which aims to address road maintenance. The bill, which passed in 2017, gets the revenue from increased gas taxes and vehicle registration.
Fullerton City Council members also earmarked $8 million for street rehabilitation in the upcoming fiscal year budget for 2024 to 2025, according to a staff report.
According to a staff report, streets like Placentia Avenue and possibly two other streets would be worked on.
Various streets would get a slurry seal or pavement treatments and a few local streets like Hermosa Drive would be worked on and the area of Maplewood, which was a separate agenda item at the April 16 meeting.
Both items were approved by Councilmembers Shana Charles, Bruce Whitaker and Ahmad Zahra. Mayor Nicholas Dunlap was not present and Councilman Fred Jung was only present via Zoom for the first two hours of the meeting on April 16.
“I think we’re in a time period right now where south Fullerton needs that investment and we just approved the Maplewood area. I would also be in favor of making Courtney Ash the area that is chosen on the local side there. I’m supportive, also, of Gilbert and Euclid. Hopefully we can make that an ‘and’ approach,” Charles said.
She added, “That would really concentrate some investment in repairing the streets on the southside. Just in general, some of it going to the east, a lot of concentration in the west. That makes a whole lot of sense given that these are historically underserved areas.”
Courtney Street and Ash Street are slated for a water main replacement soon, which allow for some road repairs.
“When we fix the water main we’ll extend the pavement out to the lip of the gutter. So you may end up with 25% or a third of the street that gets paved,” said David Grantham, a city engineer.
In a separate agenda item, city staff recommended the Maplewood area for street repairs, which is near the DMV.
During public comment a Fullerton resident who lives on Eadington Avenue told the council that his street is used as a route for driving tests which added to the wear of the roads.
“The DMV uses our neighborhood constantly to administer tests, driving tests. Not only does the DMV use them for that purpose but the companies that teach people how to drive also use the neighborhood constantly, adding lots of use to our roads,” said the resident.
Fullerton’s Broken Streets
The City’s streets have long been an issue in one of Orange County’s college towns – with local officials blaming the predecessors for not prioritizing the roads.
[Read: How Did Fullerton’s Roads Get So Bad?]
In recent years, Fullerton used some federal COVID bailout money to fix the streets in a town plagued by budget woes.
Last year, city officials approved repairs for Brookhurst, State College Boulevard and Ellis Place.
[Read: Fullerton Moves to Repair Badly Damaged Roads]
Currently the pavement condition index, which rates the health of the roads, is 74 overall in Fullerton. The threshold for streets being rated “good” is 75.
In some residential areas, the index is as low as 26 – like near Richmond Elementary School, according to a map in the staff report.
“I see the PCI improvement and I think it has proved evidence to try and do that,” Whitaker said of the slurry seals being proposed. He also said that a little over a decade ago, the overall Fullerton pavement index was 60.
Due to budget cuts, a grind and overlay method would be used on streets, as opposed to a complete removal and replacement. According to Grantham, a grind and overlay method theoretically lasts around 10 years while a removal and replacement approach lasts 20 years.
However, a grind and overlay method can only be used on streets in somewhat good health.
While the city has an infrastructure fund, Grantham said all of the funds have already been allocated with 65% to 75% going toward street improvements and the rest going toward Americans with Disabilities Act projects and building rehabilitation.
Gigi Gradillas is a Voice of OC intern. You can reach her at Gigi.Gradillas@gmail.com. Follow her on X @gigigradillas.
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