Joint Meeting: City of San Rafael – Federation of Neighborhoods – Coalition of North San Rafael – Pt. San Pedro Road Coalition
Development Update: Four Points Sheraton Site
The development has changed architects. Its representatives recently met with the North San Rafael Community to get input. The community expressed major concern about the potential traffic impact. Paul Jensen advised that there is no formal submittal to the City at this time. The plan that underwent conceptual review last September has been withdrawn. Once a new plan is submitted it will require another conceptual review and an environmental impact study before proceeding with the approval process.
Road Maintenance
Dean Allison, Director of Public Works, explained that most of the money the City gets for road maintenance comes from the State gas tax. This is problematic as the gas tax is insufficient to meet maintenance needs. We need $3 to $3.5 million dollars per year, but only receive $1.5 million. Roughly 50% is allocated to resurfacing and the other 50% to everything else having to do with roads including pothole repair, re-striping, etc.
Every city in CA is required to do a roadway assessment every two years using a state-wide methodology resulting in a Pavement Condition Index (PCI). Anything over 70 is considered very good. The Mayor advised that San Rafael’s PCI is 73.
To allocate the budget, the City identifies roads that require a slurry overlay to maintain them or hot asphalt for those in need of full replacement. The City must allocate money strategically so typically most money is allocated to those that can be maintained with slurry vs. those that needing asphalt as it costs 10x as much for asphalt as for slurry.
Dean committed to come out to look at the main streets in Peacock Gap (Biscayne, Peacock and Riviera Drives). He will report back after having done so.
Deferred Infrastructure Maintenance
Dean Allison explained that the biggest infrastructure issues are those that are buried underground that we don’t see. Storm drains are the “orphans” and need attention. In the “60’s cities used corrugated metal pipes for this purpose. Overtime these rust and fail. They typically have a 40-year life span, so we have a problem. We systematically need to assess and repair those that present the potential for the biggest problems. Typically these would be drains running under major streets where a failure could lead to large sink holes and flooding. He will be asking for project money during the budget process.
He also committed to come out and look at the retaining wall on San Pedro Road where plants have begun to grow through it.