Just west of Chico State, large holes and patches of rough asphalt resembling alligator skin litter North Cedar Street. Drivers have no way to escape the potholed pavement and bump along the damaged street.
About a dozen residents sent NSPR the cross streets of where they’ve seen the worst potholes in Chico. North Cedar is in an area that some listeners said was among the most egregious in the city.
Third Street, Cussick Avenue and Chestnut Street were also among the submissions. One respondent questioned: “Is Chico the pothole capital?”
Councilmember Bryce Goldstein has been vocal about the city’s pothole problem.
Her example of an area with bad roads is Chapmantown.
“If you come down to Humboldt Avenue, or a lot of places in the Chapmantown area, you'll see issues on every block,” Goldstein said.
Deep cavities line practically all of the nearby roads as Goldstein stands on Humboldt Avenue pointing out the rough spots.
“I think we can see basically a big crater in Aspen Street right there,” she said. “We have a lot of those.”
Potholes form when water seeps into the layer below a road’s asphalt. This layer is called the subgrade, and it’s where moisture can create weak areas.
Local general engineering contractor, Isaac Brown, said Chico’s flat terrain can create problems since water can pool without a place to drain.
“Standing water is going to affect the subgrade,” Brown said. “It's going to [percolate] into underneath the existing roads and create vulnerabilities.”
Mike Slattery is Chico’s public works manager. He said over the years the city has not addressed road-related issues as they’ve cropped up – things like filling cracks and reinforcing the asphalt.
“It was a lack of funds for years and years and years and it finally caught up to us,” Slattery said. “It's just a lack of maintenance. We didn't do the maintenance we were supposed to do for quite a long time.”
Slattery said the city is actively filling between 50 to 100 potholes every day.
He said his department of 14 employees is usually able to address reports of potholes within one to two days of being notified.
Pothole danger
Potholes can be dangerous and costly for drivers. Tehama County resident, Christine Bergman, said she hit one when visiting Chico while driving near Highway 32 and Pine. And she ended up paying for it.
“Right at this traffic light, when you do your right turn, there is this horrible, horrible pothole. The pavement is wrong,” she said. “I've hit this pavement trying to avoid another car and I ended up completely messing up my wheel. It cost me $800 that day.”
Chico resident Mary Ann Bachus encountered one on Rose Avenue while riding her bike.
“There was a pothole on the road there,” Bachus said. “It turned my handlebars and I fell over. I didn't break anything, but I had to go to the ER.”
Funding and focus
The city has been using Measure H funding — which was voted in by residents in 2022 — for road repairs in town.
On North Cedar Street, a rehabilitation project aimed at improving the existing asphalt is due to start next year. That project will use a mix of funding from Measure H and the California Environmental Quality Act.
Goldstein said she’d like to see more work on streets within the central part of Chico.
“We've been so focused on expanding capacity by widening roads at the edge of town for future development but we have people in the center of town who feel unsafe walking or biking on their streets, or people who are complaining that their car suspension gets messed up by how many potholes there are,” Goldstein said. “We need to prioritize the core streets and roads.”
While filling potholes might be more cost effective, Slatterly said a complete reconstruction of a road is the best long-term solution. He said that would last between 20 and 40 years and also solves issues on the entire street — something filling potholes doesn’t do.
“I know a lot of people see the potholes and think that they're popping right back out but some of these streets aren't in the best conditions,” Slattery said. “Most of the time it's just another one popping out.”
Chico residents can report potholes via email at rightofwaymaintenance@chicoca.gov or by phone at 530-894-4200.
