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Every Fall Sonoma County improves its roads by applying new pavement, overlays and sealers. It creates quite a commotion as many roads get closed down for the work during the day and there’s lots of traffic. But the result is worth it. Improving the roads is important to the local economy, tourism, and property values. Sonoma has been spending more and more on road repair since 2012. According to the county transportation and public works director, Susan Klassen, about $112 million has been spent since 2013. And recently the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a $28 million road repair project, part of a long term plan to save the roads.

Nearly 82 miles of pavement, including many roads that were damaged by last winter’s historical rainfall, will be rehabilitated over the next two years. “This is a huge deal,” said Supervisor James Gore. Historically roads in Sonoma have been ranked as some of the Bay Areas worst. Criteria for selecting which roads to repair not only includes the pavement condition, but also a road’s average daily use, access to public safety facilities, and taking into consideration bus and bike traffic as well. Pavement solutions depend on condition and can range from surface repair to full depth reclamation when the foundation of the road has failed. You can report road problems in the county to a citizens volunteer group called Save Our Sonoma Roads (SOSroads) on their website. They also have a smartphone app. The group formed in 2011 to urge the board of supervisors to fund the repair of county roads. This is a great service for reporting road problems in the county and a way to see problems fixed quickly. Won’t you help save Sonoma County’s roads?