Guest opinion column by County Supervisor Sue Frost–
Our roads are crumbling. That is not hyperbole, they are literally crumbling. And we don’t have the money or a realistic plan to fix them.
Related: New sales tax increase being considered to fund roads, transit
Recent reports show California roads are the third worst in the entire country. NHTSA data notes that Highway 99 is now the seventh most dangerous freeway in America. And a study by national nonprofit transportation research group TRIP estimates that 70% of Sacramento County’s roads and highways are in poor shape, with 41% dangerously so.
The public is well aware of the problem — I hear about it from my constituents almost every day.
We need to get something done.
But instead of focusing on the immediate and urgent problem — fixing our roads — the Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) is putting together a multi-billion dollar shopping list of projects in the form of a countywide sales tax increase.
Sacramento County residents drive more than 965,955 cars on 5,200 miles of roads, which comprises about 85% of all weekday travel. Compare that to the 97 bus routes and just 42 miles of Light Rail tracks, which comprises about 1% of all weekday travel, according to a 2018 Sacramento Area Council of Government’s survey.
An overwhelming majority of people in Sacramento County use roads to get to work, take kids to school, shop for food; and go movies, restaurants, and basketball games. Even public transit relies on those roads: buses travel on roads and many RT users drive to stations to board light rail.
Yet, surprisingly, the $8 billion tax increase currently under consideration will devote only up to 38% for local road repairs while dedicating as much as 50% to buses and public transit. Asking voters to raise taxes on themselves to pay for transportation projects that impact the fewest people isn’t a recipe for success.
It just doesn’t make sense. Worse yet, it could derail any chance of real action to fix our roads.
The majority of voters live outside the City of Sacramento in suburban cities like Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, Gold River, and Citrus Heights; or in unincorporated communities like Arden-Arcade, Fair Oaks and Orangevale. Residents in these communities are the most impacted by the poor condition of our roads, and they would be paying the biggest share of the proposed increase.
They are also the voters needed to pass a tax increase. Four years ago, these same voters opposed Measure B because it included too much spending on transit and trollies. Yet some STA members have convinced themselves these voters would support a new measure that nearly doubles spending on those projects.
Sacramento residents are currently paying a half-cent sales tax passed in 2004 with the promise to fix our roads. We will continue paying that tax for two more decades. We are also a paying billions more at the gas pump as a result of the gas tax increase the legislature imposed with SB1.
Each time, voters were promised that the new revenue would fix our roads and highways. Some projects have been done – but the condition of most of our roads hasn’t improved. And some of the money has been siphoned off for other purposes — something that is sure to be on voters’ minds.
STA’s own polling shows that while the public may be willing to support another tax for road repair and improvement, support from every community (including Sacramento City) falls off when it comes to RT or other projects. Measure B failed in 2016 because proponents cobbled together a wish list from interest groups instead of focusing on the issue voters cared about most. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistake.
I recognize that more revenue is required to make the improvements we need and tackle the volume of repairs we face. I believe voters are willing to pony-up more tax-dollars to get the job done. But clearly they are not willing to pay to fund more under-performing and money-losing public transit. And they are justifiably wary of more broken promises.
Related: New sales tax increase being considered to fund roads, transit
Fixing and improving our roads is imperative. It’s the most effective way we can reduce daily commutes, cut traffic snarls, and improve safety.
That is why I want STA to consider a stand-alone proposal that focuses primarily on fixing and improving our roads and highways — and include real public oversight to give voters confidence that the money will go where it is supposed to go.
I do not love the idea of raising taxes, but we have to fix our roads — and we have to do it now. I think the current proposal will make that harder, if not impossible.
Let’s focus first on fixing our roads. It’s the right thing to do. It’s also the smart thing to do.
Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost formerly served as a Citrus Heights councilwoman and currently represents District 4, which includes Citrus Heights. Her next community meeting in Citrus Heights will be held at City Hall at 6 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2020. She can be contacted at (916) 874-5491, or SupervisorFrost@saccounty.net.
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