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Crumbling pavement, potholes and faded lane markings are not an uncommon sight on Mountain View’s roads. That could change soon though as the city is planning to invest in a street maintenance project that seeks to repair and repave nearly 1 million square feet of roadway.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the street maintenance project at its Tuesday meeting, which includes a city staff recommendation to appropriate $500,000 in additional funding for the $5-million project. The item is part of the council’s consent agenda, which is a collection of routine items meant to be approved in a single vote.
The project covers more than a dozen city streets, targeting downtown trouble spots and roads that connect to major thoroughfares. Those connecting streets include Mariposa Avenue, Sierra Vista Avenue, Farley Avenue and Rock Street.
The project’s scope focuses on repair work, repaving and restriping as well as installing new high-visibility crosswalks. Other improvements include bicycle pavement markings on Rock Street and Victory Avenue, according to the May 12 city staff report.
“In total, the project will rehabilitate approximately 992,000 square feet of pavement and provide or refresh approximately 45,000 linear feet of pavement marking on the streets,” the staff report said.
The roads currently are in worse shape than city staff previously thought, costing the city more than originally anticipated to fix, according to the report. A slurry seal pavement treatment, which can improve a road’s condition and appearance, is not enough to address underlying structural problems.
“Without addressing base failures the roadway would continue to degrade,” the report said. City staff also noted that delaying the work could lead to more costly future repairs.
The city plans to cover the $500,000 shortfall with additional sales tax revenue from Measure B, which Santa Clara County voters passed in 2016 to support transportation projects, including street upgrades. Other sources of funding for the project include state gas taxes and regional community taxes, according to the report.
Last month, the city repaved more than a dozen streets with state funding from the 2017 Road Repair and Accountability Act.
Victory Avenue is effectively an overflow for San Antonio, particularly those cutting through the Monta Loma neighborhood to reach 101 SB. It’s no surprise that it needs resurfacing. I only hope that the changes serve to discourage this “shortcut,” as drivers cutting through the neighborhood are already clear in their dissatisfaction with having to accommodate cyclists, pedestrians, and pets. A few bicycle-friendly speed bumps would go a long way.
I can’t believe there are streets worse than Miramonte Avenue (from Cuesta to El Camino).
That stretch of Miramonte is indeed in horrible condition; should absolutely be a high priority for repairs.
My first reaction was to look at the map for Miramonte, and my second was despair that the map showed no streets south of El Camino.
But if you can believe it, recent digging on Grant Road south of Covington has left it in such a terrible state that it’s fighting head to head with Miramonte.
100% agree! That stretch had been on the repair list in 2021, to be done in 2022. Can’t believe it’s not on the current list.
Me neither! It’s been in poor shape since COVID.
I think it’s because they want to do another road diet, closing Miramonte to cars and make it bike only.
/s
I heard the city is going to raise property parcel taxes in November to fund the roads. I’m very excited.
These are good ideas.
Wow. Our city government acting in a responsible and practical manner.
I hope this keeps up.
Too often the Activists which seem to dominate our city government want to do things outside the role and responsibility of local government. And in some cases are working to make the lives of regular residents worse, and force their impractical ideas upon regular residents who may object and disagree. By force, I mean enact city laws that force residents to accept things they don’t want.
Such road work must include active transportation infrastructure (e.g., bikeway surfaces) and coordinate with Caltrans and the County; the Highway 85 overpass along Dana Street, for example, has bike lane stripes that are entirely gone.
Emily, could you include such details in articles like this in the future?
Any chance of posting a link to the actual City Map? The photo posted has no annotations.
Yep, here’s a link to the staff report, https://mountainview.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8008685&GUID=1822E983-E44E-45BB-9606-9A87D2DE7683&Options=&Search=
How about totally repairing Shoreline Blvd between ECR to the 101 freeway; Miramonte Ave from ECR to the Los Altos border (Not just part of it). El Monte/Springer Rds. to the Los Altos border, with all of the lane markings intact and repainted!!!
As it relates to Miramonte between Castro and Cuesta, I don’t know which is the bigger embarrassment…the state of the road, or the delays in fixing it.
I’d be pretty sure that if residents knew it would take this long, they’d have pushed for a temporary fix 3+ years ago.