Street repairs began Wednesday on a deteriorated, half-mile stretch of Santa Fe Avenue that feeds into residential roads near Fresno’s Old Fig Garden neighborhood.
The street is an example of one of the biggest complaints residents have about Fresno. The city needs $1.2 billion-worth of road repairs and last year took out a $100 million bond to try and put a dent in the growing deferred maintenance bill.
The city now has 37 street repair projects — including Santa Fe Avenue — scheduled to begin this year as part of Mayor Jerry Dyer’s “Pave More Now” campaign. It’s a $140 million effort that Dyer says is being paid with the bond, but also state dollars, grants and revenue generated by Fresno County’s half-cent transportation sales tax.
The city has $65.9 million budgeted this year to fix roads and sidewalks, and the mayor’s proposed budget for the following fiscal year includes $74.8 million for those repairs.
The current list of projects, which covers areas around the city, is expected to grow. The list includes 70 lane miles of repaving, though Dyer said the city can repave “over 100 miles.”
“As you just stand right here on Santa Fe, you can see how degraded our roads have become within the City of Fresno,” Dyer said Wednesday. “It is a project that is long overdue.”
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer speaks about the city’s Pave More Now program during a news conference on Santa Fe Avenue on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. ERIK GALICIA egalicia@fresnobee.com Here’s where the road repairs begin
Dyer said the city previously did not have the money to pay for “slurry” seals, which extend the life of pavement by filling small cracks and protecting against water penetration. As a result, roads have decayed in all parts of the city — “north and south,” Dyer said.
At a Wednesday news conference, the city only provided the list of street repair projects, but not the cost or timeline for each. The projects on the list include:
Shields Avenue from Brawley Avenue to Parkway DriveAshlan Avenue from Highway 168 to Winery AvenueThe neighborhood bound by McKinley Avenue, Palm Avenue, Olive Avenue and Fruit AvenueThe neighborhood bound by McKenzie Avenue, Winery Avenue, Tulare Street and Chestnut AvenueFresno Street from Ashlan Avenue to Gettysburg AvenueCedar Avenue from Kings Canyon Road to California AvenueCedar Avenue from Bullard Avenue to Herndon AvenueDakota Avenue from Cedar Avenue to Maple AvenueNees Avenue from Ingram Avenue to Blackstone AvenueNees Avenue from Cedar Avenue to Maple AvenueIngram Avenue from Herndon Avenue to Nees AvenueShaw Avenue from Valentine Avenue to West AvenueFigarden Drive from Santa Fe Avenue to Valentine AvenueSixth Street from Tulare Street to Ventura StreetChurch Avenue from Cedar Avenue to Peach AvenueThe neighborhood bound by Santa Ana Avenue, First Street, Gettysburg Avenue and Augusta AvenuePerrin Avenue from Champlain Drive to Granville AvenueWinery Avenue from Kings Canyon Road to Butler AvenueSanta Fe Avenue from West Avenue to Carruth AvenueThe neighborhood bound by Santa Ana Avenue, Millbrook Avenue, Gettysburg Avenue and Fourth StreetFowler Avenue from Belmont Avenue to Laurel AvenueThe neighborhood bound by Dudley Avenue, Wilson Avenue, Belmont Avenue and Palm AvenueMartin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Jensen Avenue to North Avenue (listed for two projects)Clark Street from McKinley Avenue to Floradora AvenueSunnyside Avenue from Shields Avenue to Clinton AvenueCalifornia Avenue from East Avenue to Fourth StreetNielsen Avenue from Brawley Avenue to Marks AvenuePolk Avenue from Shaw Avenue to the Bridge DeckShields Avenue from Weber Avenue to West AvenueThe Winery Circle neighborhoodThe neighborhood bounded by Fourth Street, Fairmont Avenue and Gearhart AvenuePeach Avenue from Highway 180 to Lamona AvenueFirst Street from Tulare Street to Olive AvenueBlackstone Avenue from Highway 180 to Pine AvenueCCedar Avenue from Herndon Avenue to Alluvial Avenue
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 4:28 PM.
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Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea’s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert. Erik’s work is supported through the California Local News Fellowship program.