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In addition to being a tacky eyesore, deterioration of our urban roads cost your average joe driver around $400 annually. Road pavement weakening is due to a combination of traffic weight, moisture, and climate. Among the worst roads in the U.S. are San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose -- with San Francisco stealing the number-two slot, just behind Los Angeles -- according to findings in an Urban Roads Report news release (.pdf alert!) National Transportation Research Group's William M. Wilkins had this to say about our nasty roads:
With state and federal transportation funding falling short, the cost of materials and repairs rising and traffic volumes increasing, transportation agencies will face a significant challenge in improving urban pavement conditions...[t]he nation needs to develop a new long-term vision for its highway system that would include improving conditions and safety and reducing traffic congestion.
Although the average price a driver must pay annually for crappy,unmaintained roads is around $400, a San Franciscan bill averages around $761. And before you dear bicycle-riding readers chime in with your green righteousness and abilities to turn water into wine, smoother and safer roads affect you as well. (Look at that, something cyclists and drivers can agree on. Hallelujah!)
Find out more about the road report here.
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Better than LA's? Having lived in both, I have to say SF definitely wins the shittier roads competition, hands down. Or maybe they just seem worse because I have to drive down Divisadero every day.
"I have to drive down Divisadero every day."
My god, I wouldn't that on my worst enemy.
Yeah, roads in LA are abysmal. If you compare them to the roads of Orange County, even worse. Whatever one thinks of OC, driving down there can be as good as sex. Especially on the toll roads. I mean, my God, that is some smooth, curvy perfection that have going on down there. Mmm.
I don't think you'll find us bikers disagreeing that our roads are trash. Riding around SF is a painful thing for the booty. Less potholes and cracks, por favor.
I've broken 8 spokes in potholes during the last year. Last week spent just over $500 on sturdier bike wheels.
Poor road conditions also caused a friend of mine to crash on Valencia directly in front of the Police Station. Dislocated wrist and broken forearm required surgery and time away from work. Luckily he was not hit by a car after going down. By the way, this was on a sunny, clear afternoon.
Road conditions do affect cyclists. And yes, we do pay for maintenance via taxes. Gas taxes do not cover the cost of roads.
Holier-than-thou bicyclist says: "Shitty roads scare the shit out of me." To the driver of a car, a pothole or other "imperfection" means a thump and a rattling piece of trim. To his holiness the cyclist, it means white-knuckled high-jinks to avoid pitching head first out in to traffic. Another note, and possible solution to this problem: my holier-than-all and unscientific count of road problems indicates that upwards of 75% of them stem from utility work (electrical, gas, cable, etc.) that was poorly patched and has degraded much more quickly than the surrounding road. The DPW could save itself a bunch of money by simply insisting that private companies fix correctly what they tore up.
From a news story a few years ago, California has the worst paved highway conditions in the nation.
Have you ever drove on 80 to cross the Nevada border? Once you hit gambling land, it is smooth sailing!
wowf - if you read the article, potholes and imperfections cost the driver $400 a year in taxes. And a large part of the reason is "traffic weight". Yet another example of the "Holier-than-thou" cyclist saving you money.
wowf - if you read the article, potholes and imperfections cost the driver $400 a year in taxes. And a large part of the reason is "traffic weight". Yet another example of the "Holier-than-thou" cyclist saving you money.
Had to replace both wheels last time my bike was in the shop :(
I would like to personally thank Jake McGoldrick for delaying the repaving of pothole-filled outer Noriega Street by more than a year.
Geeze Jake, can't you be content with screwing up your own District 1? Do you have to also screw up other parts of the city?
wowf has it in a nutshell. Ride a bike in this city and you'll see plenty of goo-patch pothole and sewer/electrical/etc. trenchcover. I've long considered doing my civic duty by getting copies of contracts and DPW records to see if there are, in fact, any standards at all in the requirements for quality road repairs.
I'm also still trying to chase down an article I could have swore I read years ago when Gavin first took office. I seem to remember him cutting DPW funding pretty much right away. Then a year ago, just as he's preparing to be elected mayor again he steers some extra cash for roads into DPW for some nice headlines. Good one, getting good press for making baby steps toward fixing a problem he himself created.
murphstahoe -- My new front rim's already bent from the pounding it takes on Folsom and Howard. I'm just observing that most of the potholes that freak me out are the result of trenches that have been patched and have broken down more quickly than the surrounding roadway.
ah, so you are a comrade in arms, my mistake... i get to deal with plenty of those situations given the state of Valencia as of late... ugh. And Castro. And 19th. And 18th, and so on and so on...
cyclist hint:
use wider tires (i run 700x28s at 90-100 psi, and am 240 lbs, and i have no problems with rims going out of true riding on all the streets mentioned thus far). also, three-cross spoking is teh pwn. and dont use anything with fewer than 36 spokes for your commuter, unless you weigh like
knowing how to build wheels helps, too. we have classes on it at the bike kitchen......
Cars? Bikes? Hell, I can't even WALK on the streets without the heels of my shoes getting stuck in the enormous cracks in the pavement. (Not that I'm a streetwalker -- you get my point.) If I fall and break an ankle, is that on the taxpayer's dime?
Can you run 700x28 on your everyday basic rim that normally wears 700x23?
If I fall and break an ankle, is that on the taxpayer's dime?
If you can somehow reason that it was Muni's fault then yes - payday.
Man, I was going to chime in with a "bikes get screwed, too" comment, but I'm behind the times. I ride an old Trek 920 mountain bike (rigid fork, semi-smooth tires) with slime tubes and tough strips. Even with a good seat and padded gloves, I'm still sore after a ride home.
And, after a rain when the potholes are numerous and invisible? I'm suprised that more people don't die.
I live in the Sunset and run everyday. Because of the unsafe conditions of the sidewalks in the Sunset, I run in the streets to Ocean Beach and GG Park. Because of the unsafe conditions of the streets, it is a danger each day. Each block is a challenge because of holes and the uneven patch jobs of past attempts to fill in and repave the holes. Each and every block needs to be repaved. For the Bay to Breakers race they repaved the GG Park streets on which that race was run, but the remainder of the streets in GG Park are also full of holes and patch jobs and very unsafe even for running. I would not recommend riding a bike on any of the streets on which I run.
Oh yes, and since our district has a Gavin selected unqualifed supervisor pawn who knows nothing of the Sunset or our City since she just moved here, there is no hope that Noriega or any other street will be repaved anytime soon.
jwb:
that depends on the amount of clearance between the wheel and the fork/brake/chainstays. measure it. measure your rim width. sheldon brown had a good chart about what tire sizes work with what size rims, but all of this is subject to your available clearance between wheel and frame and/or brake.
also, there is no "everyday basic rim", there are specific rims for specific functions and specific types of riding. if your tires are 700x23, then you probably have stuff more towards the racing end of the spectrum. come by the bike kitchen, or ask your local bike store if your bike can accomodate wider tires.
Here's a couple of my hated routes I go through and keep hitting potholes:
--Northbound Great Highway in the right lane. Seems they can patch it up, but you get that horrid rumbling feeling.
--Taraval east of 19th avenue.
--Lots of places in Golden Gate Park.
Maybe calling 311 to patch them up might work. I remember when they were first advertising the program, they were encouraging citizens to call about potholes. One problem is that since Golden Gate Park have odd names and a lack of intersection signs, it's hard to report potholes.
this is why i have an suv. fix the roads and i'll get rid of it.
Cyclists: If you fall in a pothole and get injured, for god's sake sue the city. That's what motorcyclists do.
Related, I commute down san jose ave to 280 to 92. I have to have my lanes memorized so I know which one to avoid during each mile after getting on the freeway. In both directions. It's pretty damn harrowing.
I remember when I lived in seattle they had a similarly bad bunch of roads. at the time, I used to buy my tires at costco which had a really great warranty where they'd replace any tire that got damage from just normal road use.
I would usually return my tires within a few months. The guy at the costco told me that the roads were playing havoc with their warranty program and they were giving away almost one tire for every one they sold.
does costco have this deal still?
I'd suggest we all vote no on spending set asides for pet projects on the ballot. We need to take care of the basics here first.
You realize that potholes are caused mainly by heavy vehicles-- i.e. your SUV (one of the reasons trucks, including SUVs, are technically banned on many streets). Similar to the SUV approach to safety: solve the problem by making it worse for everyone else.
I must say riding in Golden Gate Park is a real pleasure since they paved the road.
i live in oakland and i ride my bike everyday in the city and it's terrifying to choose between hitting a giant pothole or maybe swerving into the way of a car thats behind or to the side of you.
Fifth street between Brannan and Market... Ughh.
Last year, my next door neighbor hit a pothole so big that it cracked her engine block. The City bought her a brand new car as settlement. Thanks San Francisco taxpayers!
I created a watch area for the SF 311 system on http://www.seeclickfix.com so that everytime you report an issue on the map in SF with the word pothole they will get the email and your issue will be public for everyone to see.
I created a watch area on seeclickfix.com that emails SF311 whenever a pothole issue is reported on the map in SF.
You can create watch areas for yourself or others responsible for fixing non-emergency issues.
The issues stays open and public, others can comment on it, click "I want this fixed too", or close the issue.