Supervisor Fiona Ma: Keeping an Eye on City Streets

I recently called for a hearing at the SF Board of Supervisor's Land Use Committee to better understand how the City prioritizes our street resurfacing plan and discuss the current status of this part of our city's infrastructure. 

In San Francisco, the SF Department of Public Works (DPW) maintains 11,652 blocks of city streets, all of which have an average useful life of 18 years. How does DPW figure out which streets need to be repaved? In San Francisco we use a system, the Pavement Management and Mapping System (PMMS), to identify and prioritize the street resurfacing needs of city-maintained streets.

Factors that are taken into account to determine a street's priority for resurfacing include current pavement condition, taking into account ride quality and evidence of cracking and damage; the way in which the street is used, meaning whether it is a major traffic artery or a local access street; the average daily traffic of the street; and, finally, the location of transit routes. After all these factors are surveyed, the street in question is given a PMMS score of up to 100. A street becomes eligible for repaving when this score ranges between 25 and 60.

Surveys of city streets are performed annually and, as a result, a priority list is created of what should be paved during the upcoming year. The DPW then takes this priority list and compares it to the five-year plans of utility excavators' anticipated work and the city's Five Year Paving Plan.

By checking-in with ongoing utility work, we can avoid excavating newly paved streets. Working with other utility companies also allows the City to coordinate paving projects, with an end effect of minimizing the affect on the public. The public works department also makes an effort to distribute improvements equally throughout various neighborhoods and commercial districts in the City.

The final factor in planning resurfacing projects is the amount of funding available in a given year.

Currently, 240 blocks are paved on an annual basis, but there is a growing backlog of streets that need or will need resurfacing in the near future. A combination of federal, state and local funding sources contribute to supporting street resurfacing, but that is not enough.

The City is looking into additional funding opportunities for street resurfacing, however, the current backlog and projected need requires that we research and consider new funding opportunities. These include special assessment districts, bond measures, impact development fees and vehicle licensing fees on the local level, a gas tax on the regional level or having gas taxes on the state level dedicated to the City.

Keeping our city streets paved and in good condition is an important quality-of-life issue. Through this hearing at the board, we were better able to understand the challenges facing the upkeep of our streets and the options available to us so that we can continue to provide our residents with the services they have come to expect.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4, which includes the Sunset and Parkside districts.