A new study finds that aging infrastructure, rising construction costs and budget cuts have put California's local streets and roads system in crisis.
Cities and counties own and maintain more than eighty-percent of all the roads in the state.
The needs assessment surveyed all 58 counties. It found the majority have road pavements that are at risk for failing. With the current level of funding, a quarter of the streets and roads will have failed in 10 years.
"Just to maintain the streets as they are today, it's going to take $3.2 billion annually," said Jennifer Whiting who is with the League of California Cities, one of the sponsors of the study. "In order to get them to best management practices, it's going to take $7.23 billion annually. Right now our existing funding is about $1.33 billion annually."
Whiting said unless the conditions are addressed, costs to maintain the system will continue to increase. The report does not suggest ways to fund the repairs.
