The Metropolitan Transportation Commission just released a report that shows the condition of pavements throughout the Bay Area. The data is for 2021, and shows how many potholes, rough roads, and other issues are affecting the Bay Area.
Here is the report: https://mtc.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022-10/PCI_table-2021_data.pdf
Orinda scored an overall “Very Good” rating, and was one of only a handful of cities to get that rating. In getting that rating, it joined the ranks of Dublin, Palo Alto, Cupertino and other well-heeled Bay Area cities. It would be interesting to graph these results against the average income of the cities, to see if pricier cities have better roads.
Lafayette, Moraga and Walnut Creek all still racked up “Good” ratings, which isn’t too bad.
Nearby Berkeley got the alarming-sounding “At Risk” rating. Many of the areas to get “Poor” ratings were up in the North Bay and wine country. Vallejo, Napa County, Sebastapol, Petaluma and Pacifica had the worst roads in the Bay Area.
Roads got a little bit worse in 2021 than in the previous years. That said, there was a bigger dip that seems to have happened in the mid-2010s, and in recent years, that dip has pretty much reversed. There’s a bit of change from year to year, but the scores really aren’t that volatile.
Overall, Lamorinda didn’t do too bad. Of course, it’s all relative. I moved here from Baltimore, where three-foot-wide potholes were the norm, and were rarely repaired. Keep in mind that we have it pretty good in terms of roads and public services around here.
