roads

In California, efforts to boost funding for road repairs are at odds with the concurrent goal of expanding electric vehicle usage. So how can these two needs co-exist?

Sonoma County’s roads have taken a severe beating from this winter’s nonstop storms. Now the county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works is out with an initial estimate of over 16 million dollars worth of damages. KRCB’s Tiffany Camhi reports.

Sonoma County Supervisors will spend an additional $13 million on road repairs over the next two years. But they warn that this is one-time only money, so a long-term source of sustained funding is still needed.

Susan Klassen, the county's Director of Transportation and Public Works, says the additional road repair funds will be spread throughout the county, according to already-established priorities.

  A bid to raise the sale tax and use the revenues for road repairs fell well short of the 50% vote needed for passage yesterday, as anti-government sentiments prevailed in a low-turnout special election.

Sonoma County voters are being asked to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase intended to fund the repair of a thousand miles of local roads.

Measure A would raise more than $102 million dollars over five years, according to the County Auditor’s Fiscal Impact Statement. That, says Supervisor David Rabbitt, would be enough to dramatically affect the current widespread problems.

  The rural two-lane roads that wind through Sonoma County’s landscapes are a resource worth protecting. Designating them “heritage roads” is one way to do that.

  Sonoma County Supervisors have decided to hold off on a special election for a bond to fund road reports until next June. Meanwhile, an updated statewide report shows that this is an issue throughout California.

A new law goes into effect on January 1st which will allow undocumented immigrants to receive drivers licenses. We examine what this new law will mean for families in the area, and how law enforcement is responding.

A quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund road repairs across Sonoma County appeared headed for the November ballot, but a proposal to use 10% of the money for public transit is getting some push-back.

The county-wide road tax could be just one of a number of bonds and tax increases facing local voters in November, from schools, cities and Santa Rosa Junior College. The deadline for adding measures to the ballot is August 8.

  Sonoma County has a lot of miles of roads to maintain, and a big backlog of places where potholes are plentiful. Which ones are the worst?  Bruce Robinson gets an answer from Craig Harrison, co-founder of Save Our Sonoma Roads, on the Exchange today.