San Diego\u2019s budget crisis is expanding already-long backlogs for streetlight repairs, sidewalk fixes, graffiti removal and requests for stop signs and speed bumps \u2014 and things are expected to get even worse.<\/p>\n
The backlogs have been sharply on the rise because budget cuts last July limited overtime hours in the Transportation Department and filling vacancies with new hires has been essentially prohibited since December.<\/p>\n
And a $120 million deficit the city faces in the new budget for fiscal 2027 is expected to require across-the-board cuts instead of the $55 million funding increase transportation officials say is needed to shrink the backlogs.<\/p>\n
The quality of city roads is also in jeopardy<\/a>. Transportation officials say $248 million per year is needed to get city roads up to national standards, but San Diego now spends about one-third of that with no increases likely.<\/p>\n \u201cWe simply don\u2019t have the resources or the budget to provide the level of service where we are making progress,\u201d the city\u2019s interim transportation director, Naomi Chavez, said this winter. \u201cThe same will happen in fiscal year 2027 if nothing changes. Without these resources, we continue to slip further and further behind.\u201d<\/p>\n The steadily growing backlogs have reached startling levels: 7,142 for streetlight repairs, 8,285 for sidewalk fixes, 6,738 for road striping and signage jobs, 2,350 for stop signs and speed bumps and 6,765 for code-compliance issues like graffiti.<\/p>\n The streetlight repair backlog grew by 153 in February as crews fixed 342 streetlights while 495 new service requests came in. City officials say that backlog has been growing by an average of more than 1,900 per year.<\/p>\n They stress that the backlog would be far worse \u2014 about 8,500 instead of 7,142 \u2014 if the city hadn\u2019t re-directed in October millions in parking meter revenue away from neighborhood groups toward streetlight repairs.<\/p>\n In the new budget, transportation officials are requesting a $30.5 million increase in funding to create a fully dedicated streetlight repair team with 32 new employees.<\/p>\n The sidewalk repair backlog grows by an average of 1,100 locations per year, and the average response time to requests has risen to about eight years.<\/p>\n And some notable success the city has had getting property owners to help fix sidewalks is now in jeopardy because of the budget crisis.<\/p>\n The city fixed more than 1,200 areas of sidewalk during the fiscal year that ended last June \u2014 triple the previous high from fiscal 2021 \u2014 thanks to a carrot-and-stick<\/a> campaign launched in 2023.<\/p>\n City officials began notifying thousands of property owners that they could be liable for injuries caused by damaged adjacent sidewalks but that if they paid for the repairs, the city would waive<\/a> the $2,200 permit fee.<\/p>\n Funding for that fee waiver expires with the end of the ongoing budget year in June \u2014 and transportation officials expressed pessimism the new budget will include $450,000 needed to keep the program going.<\/p>\n They contend the program comes with significant return on investment. It has spurred $1.5 million in private spending on sidewalk repair and prevented a hard-to-estimate number of sidewalk injury lawsuits.<\/p>\n In addition to that money, transportation officials are asking for a $7.3 million increase in funding to create a new sidewalk repair team with 18 new employees.<\/p>\n On stop signs, speed bumps and other traffic safety requests, the backlog grew by 487 requests from fiscal year 2024 to 2025 \u2014 a 26% jump from 1,863 to 2,350 in just one year.<\/p>\n In the new budget, the Transportation Department wants an increase of $6.7 million for a new \u201cquick build\u201d team to more rapidly install safety features such as crosswalks, flashing beacons, colored curbs and roundabouts.<\/p>\n Other budget requests from the department include $2.4 million to buy and install new signs announcing lower<\/a> speed limits in neighborhoods across the city and $1 million for a comprehensive survey of the condition of all city streets.<\/p>\n Such surveys are supposed to be conducted once every four years.<\/p>\n