Sloppy Ridgemont repaving irks Oakland neighbors Uneven surface, globs of pavement dot neighborhood

Steve Mendelson (left) and Bob Fitzgerald discuss the bad repaving in Oakland's Ridgemont neighborhood. Steve Mendelson (left) and Bob Fitzgerald discuss the bad repaving in Oakland's Ridgemont neighborhood. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Sloppy Ridgemont repaving irks Oakland neighbors 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Oakland resident Jeff Franzen waited more than two decades to see his Ridgemont neighborhood streets repaved, and when the trucks arrived this month he thought he was in for a smooth ride.

It didn't happen as he'd hoped.

"It just seems if you're going to go through the trouble of paving a road, you should do it right," Franzen said.

He spoke this week as he drove his Mercedes sedan over dips and ruts along Campus Drive, the main road through the hilltop neighborhood that stretches from Merritt College southeast to Keller Avenue.

To some residents, the job was not only a disappointment on the surface, but sloppy on the edges.

Bruce Whitten, a 13-year resident who photographed water bottles laying in some of the deepest grooves, said he saw baseball-size globs of pavement mix littered along side streets and gravel on sidewalks.

Whitten said he wrote an e-mail to a city Public Works Agency employee, who agreed the contractor needed to return to clean up the mess. The pavement clumps appeared to have fallen off work trucks, Whitten said.

According to the city, the contractor returned to clean up debris and a city engineer inspected the effort Tuesday.

"It's better now but it's not what you would expect from a normal job," Whitten said.

Residents want the city's contractors to return before the final process of striping and painting markings at intersections. They'd like their streets flattened and all debris removed.

Kristine Shaff, spokeswoman for public works, acknowledged that the Ridgemont job "was not perfect," but said it was also not designed as a comprehensive paving project.

"This is only a 'fix-it,' " Shaff said. "Is it perfect? No. Is it better than it was? Yes."

Alameda County voters last year narrowly defeated Measure B1, which would have doubled an existing half-cent sales tax for transportation. Shaff said millions of dollars never made it to city coffers, and that paving jobs in Oakland were put on hold or reduced in scope.

Shaff said the Ridgemont job was pushed up the list after vociferous complaints from residents. The industry standard for cities to repave roads is once every 25 to 30 years, but in Oakland that wait is often closer to 80 years, Shaff said.

Neighbors said they'll continue to plead with public works and lobby their councilwoman, Desley Brooks, to get another contractor to smooth out the surfaces before the painters arrive.

"I know the residents don't like it, but unfortunately we're not able to do more," Shaff said. "We did the best we could do with the resources available."

What's not working Issue: The area around Campus Drive in Oakland, recently repaved, is still rutted, and clumps of debris left behind line nearby roads, residents say. What's been done: City officials say the contractor will clean up the debris, but more paving is unlikely. Who's responsible: Michael Neary, assistant director of public works, Department of Engineering and Construction. mjneary@oaklandnet.com.