Rural Road Repairs are on Santa Barbara County’s Radar
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Officials are acknowledging the state of disrepair on some of the rural roads in the northern parts of Santa Barbara county.
You don’t have to drive more than six miles up Figueroa Mountain Road before encountering a bumpy ride.
Santa Barbara county Public Works has identified these increasing problem areas.
“This is what I’m getting mostly for my constituents is about roads, you know, and about how bad it is around their house and how it’s been 30 years since anybody’s ever, you know, showed up from the county,” says Bob Nelson, Santa Barbara County Supervisor.
These roads are not highly trafficked, they wind through hills, and even forested areas, making visibility tricky.
“Roads aren’t sexy. You know, there’s no ribbon cutting when you’re out there with the pavement. But it’s it’s hugely important,” says Supervisor Nelson.
According to some constituents who live out in these areas, many of these roads have not been resurfaced in several years, to say nothing of the damages caused by recent wildfires.
“We would love to pave everything. But those ones, we have to be a little bit more careful and do them in segments versus like doing the whole thing,” says Public Works director Rick Sneddon.
County officials have scheduled these much needed repairs, but there are logistical concerns on these long stretches of mountain road that slow the process down.
“Figueroa Mountain, for example, is a very challenging road to maintain. It’s very long and it’s expensive to do so. He’s got many roads like that in his district and we try and we try and do everything so that we’re like making sure we’re paying attention to those roads too,” says Sneddon.
Due to the tricky nature of some of these routes, repairs will need to be done in sections, and residents will need to be notified ahead of time.
For additional details such as the roadmap and schedule for these repairs, you can visit the county’s website.