Potholes in the City of Santa Rosa:

Santa Rosa has about 550 miles of city streets—that’s a lot of street mileage. Of the 99 cities and 9 counties that make up the Bay Area, Santa Rosa has more street mileage than 96 of those cities and more than 4 of the counties. Only San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco have more street mileage. And, along with all those streets come a lot of potholes.

• To report a pothole on a public street within Santa Rosa city limits, call the Pothole Hotline: (707) 543-3871

But, keep in mind that the city’s current funding is insufficient to sustain our transportation infrastructure and maintenance referrals are being prioritized. Meaning, if the pothole isn’t that big or if it’s not on a busy street, it's probably not a priority right now.

Potholes in Sonoma County

Sonoma County is known for its natural beauty, its food, its wine, its (counter)culture and—its potholes. The county road system has been ranked the worst in the Bay Area for the past three years. (2004, 2005 and 2006). And County Supervisors receive more complaints about crumbling asphalt and potholes than any other issue.
The county budgets $15 million a year for mending its 1,400-mile road system. It’s estimated that it would take $750 million to make the roads first-rate.

And it didn’t help matters any when the New Year’s flood and storms of 2006 caused about $12 million in damage. Now, every cent spent on the storm repairs is being diverted from the regular maintenance program, which includes filling potholes as well as trimming trees and clearing ditches.

Eventually, the county will be reimbursed by federal agencies for money going to repairs caused by the New Year’s storms. Unfortunately, those funds have been slow in coming.

• To report a pothole on a Sonoma County street, call the Transportation and Public Works Department at (707) 565-7280.

Do keep your fingers crossed and don’t hold your breath.