Board of Supervisors approves list of SB1 infrastructure projects for Fiscal Year 2022-23

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today approved a list of local streets and road projects to be completed during the 2023-24 construction season using nearly $12.6 million in anticipated revenue from SB1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act. The selection process for road projects is based on a two-year budget cycle and takes multiple criteria into consideration, including pavement condition, type and amount of usage, design characteristics, and geographic location within the county.

Funding from SB1, signed into law by the governor on April 28, 2017, contributes to the design, construction, management and equipment required for basic road maintenance, rehabilitation, and critical safety needs that improve and extend the useful life of the county road system, including culvert installation, road striping and stenciling, vegetation management, bridge construction and road paving.

The state’s SB1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account is derived primarily from per-gallon fuel excise taxes. All SB1 funds go to infrastructure repair and improvement projects, including necessary upgrades to the heavy equipment fleet and materials laboratory testing equipment, in alignment with the Resilient Infrastructure pillar of Sonoma County’s Five-year Strategic Plan.

“This crucial funding gives us more flexibility to address secondary and rural roads, which results in more overall road miles being maintained on an annual basis, a more efficient use of public resources, and an improved overall road system,” said Supervisor James Gore, Chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Accountability and transparency provisions in the law help ensure that resources are being used on the most high-priority and cost-effective projects that also meet community priorities for transportation investment.” 

State gas tax revenue from SB1 is distributed based on the number of vehicle registrations in a particular county, rather than the number of road miles, so rural counties receive disproportionately less road funding. Other funding sources for county road repairs include contributions from the county’s General Fund, PG&E settlement funds, Measure L transient occupancy tax and Measure M sales tax.

In 2012, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors began using General Funds to bolster pavement preservation efforts and today contributes more to road repairs than any other California counties. By 2023, the Board will have invested more than $169 million of discretionary dollars in road improvements and completed 456 miles of pavement preservation and rehabilitation projects throughout the county.

In May 2021, the Department of Transportation and Public Works presented to the Board of Supervisors the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Pavement Preservation Program, including the approved SB1 list of roads. Sonoma County uses a combination of corrective maintenance and pavement preservation to rehabilitate its inventory of 1,368 miles of roads and 328 bridges, which is the largest road network in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A summary report for today’s Board item, including the resolution with a full list of approved roads and equipment, is available here: 
https://sonoma-county.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5638511&GUID=585DB78C-8FCB-4254-8BFE-15B5A10F5AF0

For more information about the Department of Transportation and Public Works, please contact (707) 565-2550 or email spi@sonoma-county.org.

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Media Contact: 
Dan Virkstis 
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org 
(707) 565-3040
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403