Streets Update

Mission Viejo drivers are noticing an increase in patchwork on some streets that have deep cracks and crumbling asphalt. Ambar (one of the worst in the city), near Alicia and Olympiad, was recently treated for deep and wide cracks. Ambar received attention because community watchdogs and other residents reported the need.

The city has stated it has no employees to inspect streets, and residents are responsible for reporting damage.

When residents email or call city hall to report damage, they should ask if their street will be overlaid or merely patched. If the entire length of the street has a network of deep cracks, patchwork isn’t practical. Patches and runners of tar along cracks last only a few months before the underlying damage resurfaces.

Last week, a community watchdog delivered a report to the city manager that detailed more than 150 streets in need of immediate repair. The list, 12 pages long, was compiled by Mission Viejo residents. Some streets have a network of deep and wide cracks throughout the entire length of street. All streets on the list are located south of Jeronimo Road, and none of them are scheduled to be repaired during the current Fiscal Year. One third of streets on the list aren’t due to be resurfaced for three or four years.

New additions to the list include an area near Fieldcrest and Felipe. Specific streets are Misty Ridge, Fieldcrest, Fairgreen and Aprico. According to the city’s resurfacing schedule, the area is not due for attention until Financial Year 2012-2013.

Streets north of Jeronimo in poor condition number at least 50 and have been reported separately to city hall. Some are in an area to be resurfaced this year (bordered on the north by the city boundary, south by Alicia, east by Marguerite Parkway and west by Trabuco).

Two residents who have been surveying streets in Mission Viejo compared street conditions when they were in Santa Ana last week. County bloggers have noted that Santa Ana’s streets are among the worst in the county. The Mission Viejo residents said they didn’t find many streets in poor condition, and most of the arterials they drove on are good.

From their report, “From descriptions on county blogs about Santa Ana streets, we were expecting roads to be worn down to dirt. Some of the side streets were constructed with concrete, and they are cracked and obviously very old. Our tour was limited to the southeast and central parts of town, and we drove for miles on streets in good condition. They have some bad ones, but not as bad as we were expecting. Mission Viejo is a relatively new city, and it shouldn’t have streets in poor condition, but it does.”