Long Beach Residents Frustrated As City's Worst Roads Go Unrepaired

LONG BEACH (CBSLA) – While the Los Angeles metro area as a whole has for years faced a serious problem with poor road conditions, residents in Long Beach are especially frustrated that their city's worst roads aren't even slated for repairs.

Long Beach City Councilwoman Stacy Mungo recently asked for a list of the city's worst roads based on the Pavement Condition Index – a metric used to measure roadway conditions.

However, based on that list, the city's 10 worst roads are not even scheduled for upcoming repair work.

"I think that this is a basic thing that our elected officials are responsible to provide to taxpayers," Mungo told CBS2 Tuesday. "We have to provide safe streets, and safe communities and safe parks."

No. 6 on the 10-worst list is a half-mile stretch of Conant Street, which is filled with cracks and potholes.

"It's not so bad that it would take out your front end, but occasionally you have to swerve some deep potholes," neighbor William Cox told CBS2.

According to the city, it will cost an estimated $3.3 million just to repair Conant.

The city is in the middle of a project to recoat 35 miles of roads that don't need major work. When finished, Mungo hopes they can prioritize roads like Conant that need a complete overhaul.

However, she says to do it, they need more money. She hopes next year taxpayers approve a permanent extension to Measure A, which is a one-cent sales tax for public safety and infrastructure.

A report released in October of 2018 by the nonprofit transportation group TRIP found that the L.A.-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area has the third worst road conditions in the nation behind only San Jose and San Francisco.

In August of 2018, TRIP released a similar report which found that L.A. metro area drivers spend almost $3,000 a year in extra costs such as repairs, wasted fuel and congestion.