These Bay Area cities have the best and worst roads, new report says

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- Bay Area drivers have a common complaint: our local roadways aren't in the best of shape.

A new report from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission confirms that.

It ranks the area's roads as only being fair, assigning the nine counties a score of 67 out of 100--the exact same number it's scored for the past nine years.

"Every day our roads are getting older. Every day they're more exposed to the elements. Every day they're more exposed to traffic," said John Goodwin.

Goodwin is a spokesperson for the MTC.

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He says despite spending money on infrastructure maintenance, many Bay Area governments are barely keeping up.

"The money that cities and counties do have for pavement maintenance doesn't go as far as a few years ago. The cost of materials, cost of labor, et cetera," Goodwin said.

The condition of roads in the Bay Area depends largely on where you actually are.

In Marin County, the city of Larkspur has the best roads in the region.

On the other side of the spectrum, in Vallejo, the pothole-filled streets are ranked as the worst.

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That distinction is an annoying reality for many Vallejo drivers.

Garrett Toles tells us it's gotten so bad that at one point several years ago, he and some friends actually started filling potholes around the city themselves.

This was something ABC7 News first reported on back in 2022.

"A lot of those people in Vallejo, they do come from low income communities and that's just another hassle for them. That's just another financial burden that they have to deal with," Toles said.

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Due to heavy investment, as well as a commitment to infrastructure improvements from local officials, Goodwin expects the region's overall roadway score to increase in the coming years.

It's something he says will improve everyone's quality of life.

"I see that as a strong leading indicator that we're moving in the right direction, but we're moving at a real slow pace," Goodwin said.

The average roadway has a life expectancy between 18 and 25 years.