HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11051991 - 2.5 .+-. \._ & -005
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: J. MICHAEL WALFORD, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
DATE: November 5, 1991
SUBJECT: Response to Board Referral Regarding Correspondence from Loraine Motta
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) &BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
I. Recommended Action:
ACCEPT report from the Public Works Director and DIRECT the Public Works Department to
pursue the abandonment of Christie Road. i
II. Financial Impact:
Abandoning Christie Road will save the County over$20,000 per year in maintenance costs and
unknown amounts in potential liability costs.
III. Reasons for Recommendations and Background: j
The Public Works Department maintains approximately 742 miles of roadway. These roads vary
from multi lane arterials such as Taylor Boulevard to single lane farm roads such as Christie
Road.
Christie Road is a three mile long, single lane, dead end roadway which passes through open
grazing land and serves a few private residences at the end of the roadway. This roadway is
one of a number of similar roadways that serve very few residents and are not built to County
standards. These road's are essentially long private driveways that create increased liability for
the County.
We have historically spent approximately two weeks per year on the maintenance of Christie
Road, which is more time than a lot of roads in the County get. We widened the pavement in
Continued on Attachment: X SIGNATURE:
_ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
_ RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOARD ON NOV 5 1991 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED V OTHER_
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
y UNANIMOUS (ABSENT )
AYES: NOES:
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
I hereby certify that this Is a true and Correct copy of
an action taken and entered on the minutes of the
P B05.t Board of Supervi re on the date shown.
C: 0511 ATTESTED. �OV 5 1991.
PHIL BATCHELOR,Clerk of the Board
of Supervisors and7uP�.Aj---,09pUty
my Administrator
By
ACCEPT REPORT FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR AND THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPT. TO
PURSUE ABANDONMENT OF, CHRISTIE ROAD
November 5, 1991
Page 2
a couple of locations a.few years ago. We have spent numerous hours trimming the prolific
vegetation which grows along the roadway. Recently, we used a crew from the Marsh Creek
Detention Facility to perform this work. This crew consisted of nine to twelve men. This is .
probably the work crew Ms. Motta is referring to in her letter. We repaired a major slide along
Christie Road a couple of years ago. We cracksealed the roadway in 1987. The employee who
was responsible for painting the names on Christie Road is no longer employed by the Public
Works Department. We have recently patched and leveled several sections of the roadway and
repaired the shoulders. We have done repair work on the numerous metal cattle crossings
along the roadway. The pavement structural section on Christie Road is very minimal which
results in pavement failures if heavy loads are brought over the roadway. We last chipsealed
the roadway in 1978 and will probably schedule another chipseal within the next two years,
depending on funding priorities.
As you know, from past reports to the Board, our limited funding requires us to set priorities on
the level of maintenance for the various roads. Obviously, a pothole in Taylor Boulevard with
an average daily traffic (ADT) count of 30,000 vehicles is more critical than a roadway with an
ADT of 40. The Board'has concurred in these priorities.
We understand that the residents would like to see Christie Road widened .to a two lane
roadway with a centerline stripe. An improvement such as this would be quite expensive and
not something the department would have the funds to do. However, if all the residents want
to upgrade the roadway in this manner we could look into creating an assessment district to
fund the improvement.
In 1971, the Public Works Department sought to abandon Christie Road because we believe it
does not serve the public. However, at that time our major roads plan showed a future
connection of Christie Road to Ferndale Road as the area developed. Therefore, the
abandonment was dropped. We have recently updated our major roads plan along with the
new General Plan, and, Christie Road no longer shows as a roadway on that plan. It would
make sense at this time to consider abandoning this roadway. The City of!Hercules is not
interested in annexing this area, so we do not foresee that this roadway will ever be needed for
public use. We realize that abandonment of this roadway would not be popular with the
residents who live there, but the County needs to evaluate the increased liability we assume on
behalf of the public for a private access. Probably the only public use of the roadway is by
teenagers looking for a place off the beaten path to drink and party. If the roadway is
abandoned the residents could install a gate to prevent this nuisance.
IV. Consequences of Negative Action:
If the Board does not"want to pursue abandonment of Christie Road then the County will
continue to incur costs for maintenance of a road not used for the general public. Also, there
would be additional costs from potential liability.
Orig. Div: Public Works (Mtc)
cc: County Admin.
Clerk of the Board