An initiative announced by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is aiming to repair roads in many of the city’s underfunded communities. Through the new “Sexy Streets” initiative, the City will allocate nearly $40 million in funding to repair approximately 54 miles of roads in San Diego.
“Repairing the physical infrastructure that our city needs to function at the highest possible level for our residents is one of the top priorities of my administration,” Mayor Gloria said in a statement. “These upgrades, repairs and replacements will go a long way toward addressing our infrastructure backlog and moving San Diego forward. I want to thank the members of the City Council for their support of this significant infrastructure investment for the future of our city.”
According to Gloria, the “Sexy Streets” initiative was created to bring more attention to traditionally overlooked systems like infrastructure.
Gloria addressed the issue in a recent State of the City 2022 address, where he noted the lack of real repairs that streets have received. Previously, roads throughout the city have received maintenance or upgrades rather than full repairs.
Through the new initiative, however, Todd said streets across the city, “from San Ysidro Boulevard in the south to Highland Valley Road in the north” will receive quality repairs.
The $40 million in funding has been divided between each of the city’s five districts, with streets being prioritized by council members of each area. Through the plan, streets will be repaved over the next two years in addition to the $146 million in road resurfacing projects currently underway throughout the city.
The City also is looking to update its Street Preservation Ordinance, according to Gloria. The update would make it so that any underground road work taking place by an entity not affiliated with the city would have to be immediately repaired or the City would have to be reimbursed for the cost of repairs. According to the City, the update to the ordinance would take the responsibility away from tax payers and overall minimize damage to city roads.
The $40 million in road repair spending comes from the City’s larger $293 million budget for critical infrastructure projects. As well as roads, other infrastructure to receive funding includes stormwater, parks, City facilities, public safety and environmental services.
Of this budget, the City is allocating $97.7 million toward public safety, $59.4 million to mobility and transportation, $50.4 million to environmental services, $49.6 million to stormwater, $20.7 million to parks and recreation, $14.7 million to city facilities and $550,000 to technology.
