Report rates Mendo’s roads worst in state

MENDOCINO CO., 11/29/16 — Mendocino County’s roads are rated the worst in California, according to a report published in October and commissioned by a coalition of infrastructure advocacy groups led by the League of California Cities. The 223 page report attempts to answer questions about the pavement condition of local streets and roads; what it will take to repair them; and what the funding shortfalls are. Locally the annual report has caused a bit of a stir, with Mendocino County Director of Transportation Howard Dashiell quoting it at length in a request for the Mendocino County board of supervisors to support a state proposal that would re-shape the formula for bringing Sacramento money to bear on fixing local roads.

The report, called the California Statewide Local Streets and Roads Needs Assessment of 2016, uses the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) to rate the state of the roads. The PCI, developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, is a numerical index used to assess the state of the pavement, with 1 being the lowest and 100 the highest. The needs assessment states that Mendocino County’s roads average a 35, or “poor,” while the statewide average is 65, or “at risk.” Of the six other California counties with an index of “poor,” Lake County comes closest to Mendocino, with a PCI of 40. Mendocino’s northern neighbor, Humboldt County, comes in with a PCI of 63, while Trinity’s PCI is 62. Sonoma, to the south of Mendocino, has a PCI of 55. The highest-ranking county in the State is Orange County, coming in at 79.