FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 3, 2021

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO Following through on his commitment to filtering all city decisions through a lens of social equity, Mayor Todd Gloria today was joined by Congressmember Sara Jacobs and City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe as he highlighted his proposal to invest nearly $40 million in repairing streets and roads in historically underserved communities.

People say infrastructure isnt a sexy topic. I disagree and thats why I call newly paved roads sexy streets. All San Diegans deserve streets in their communities that are in good shape, Mayor Gloria said. The investment I'm proposing will bring long-awaited road repairs to neighborhoods that haven't traditionally received their fair share while making the infrastructure improvements we need to meet our climate goals.

The program proposed by Mayor Gloria, known as Sexy Streets, is made possible by federal stimulus funding from the American Rescue Plan, which is providing more than $300 million in budget relief to the City of San Diego.

The American Rescue Plan is helping San Diego, and cities around the country, provide essential services, address budgetary constraints caused by the pandemic, and meet infrastructure and maintenance needs that have been neglected for far too long, said Congresswoman Jacobs. We cant just get back to normal; we need to invest in underserved communities, prepare for the future, and ensure opportunity for all.

The funding is proposed as part of the Mayors draft budget for fiscal year 2022, which begins on July 1. It will be invested in streets and roads in Council Districts 4, 8, and 9, which include communities such as Encanto, San Ysidro and City Heights that have not historically received their fair share of City resources.

From day one, I have been leading the charge to address the intentional disinvestment, infrastructure inequities and mobility issues that have plagued our communities of concern for decades, said Councilmember Montgomery Steppe. Our residents deserve neighborhood streets that are free from potholes and safe for multimodal access to transportation. These are basic services our government should provide. I thank Mayor Gloria for his commitment to invest in our communities of concern and honor the work of local constituency and environmental justice activists, who have tirelessly advocated for the equitable distribution of funding and resources in our city.

If approved by the City Council in June, funding would go toward paving longstanding decrepit roads with new overlay and road reconstruction.

Paving projects will be bundled with other infrastructure to create Complete Streets. These projects could include new sidewalk connections, sidewalk repairs, streetlights, transit-stop improvements, transit-lane improvements, bike lanes, curb-and-gutter construction, and stormwater improvements. The investments would be prioritized based on critical transit and active-transportation routes.

Separately, Mayor Gloria plans to add an equity scoring component for all infrastructure needs, including road repairs, community parks and libraries.

The $40 million dedicated to communities of concern is part of an overall road-repair budget of more than $130 million for the 2022 fiscal year. Mayor Gloria is proposing to spend a total of $747.4 million on capital improvements. The Citys most recent five-year planning outlook identified nearly $7 billion in infrastructure needs, with a gap in funding amounting to $3 billion.

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