The city of Santa Rosa will be spending nearly $22 million to resurface roads impacted by the 2017 Tubbs Fire following approval of a contract by the City Council this week.  

The Coffey Park and Fountaingrove Neighborhood Roads Disaster Recovery Project will take on 33 miles of residential streets over 18 months in an effort to refurbish roadways damaged from extensive debris removal following the fire that was at the time the most destructive wildfire in California history.  

The city approved a contract Tuesday with Argonaut Constructors for $21.8 million, $13.8 million of which comes from a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery award. PG&E, which wasn’t found liable for the fire but agreed to settle fire claims as part of its bankruptcy plan due to other wildfire liabilities, is contributing $5.6 million. The rest of the money will come from Capital Facility and utility impact fees, which are paid by the developer to lower the burden of infrastructure costs on taxpayers, and traffic relief funds from Measure M, a quarter-cent county tax approved in 2004 to pay for transportation strategies. 

The streets will undergo pavement resurfacing incrementally, and impacted residents will be sent two advance project notification letters a few months and two weeks before the work begins. A website will be set up for residents and the city will be establishing a 24-hour hotline when construction begins.  

Though mail and garbage service will continue for residents during street repairs, access to driveways will be limited and street parking will be restricted.  

The project is slated to begin next month and is expected to be complete by spring 2025.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.