SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A major milestone has been reached in the city of San Diego’s efforts to fix its roads.
Officials said 1,000 miles of city streets have been fixed in the three years since Mayor Kevin Faulconer made a pledge to repair San Diego’s crumbling infrastructure.
In 2015, the mayor promised to fix 1,000 miles of streets over five years. However, with tripled funding and other operational changes, the city reached the goal nearly two years ahead of schedule.
The 1,000th mile of repairs were made on a street in Pacific Beach, the city said.
"One thousand miles represents our commitment to improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods, restoring pride in our communities, and building a better future for all San Diegans," Faulconer said. "This is really 1,000 miles and counting because we're going to keep paving until every street in every neighborhood gets fixed. This is great start and we know there's a lot more work to do."
City workers have fixed an average nearly 25 miles of streets per month since 2015, compared to 25 miles of streets in one year a decade ago, according to the mayor's office.
The city is currently on pace to fix roughly 1,500 miles of streets by 2020, estimated to be half of the city's network of streets. The city's infrastructure program now has the capability to fix more than 300 miles of streets each year due to the increased funding, better work crew organization and tighter regulations on contractors to hold them accountable for their work, according to the mayor's office.
City Councilman Mark Kersey said, "Repaving 1,000 miles ahead of schedule is an achievement the whole City can celebrate and reflects our continued commitment to rebuilding San Diego. With the help of the City Council's first-ever Infrastructure Committee, we've cut bureaucratic red tape and prioritized funding to put neighborhood road repairs first. We will move on to the next thousand miles and keep going until San Diegans have the smooth, reliable streets they deserve."
City News Service contributed to this report
