San Diego has Miles of Dirt, Gravel Roads in Need of Repairs

SAN DIEGO - Streets in some San Diego neighborhoods are in terrible shape some say the city has no immediate plans to deal with it.

“The conditions of the roads here are horrific," Memorial neighborhood resident Damion Dillard told reporting partner 10 News. "People come in and you know dump their trash, dump their waste products, and park their trailers.”

Dillard lives on South Bancroft, a dirt road that's never been paved or maintained by the City of San Diego. After the recent rains, it's in rough shape. It's an example of what the city calls Unimproved Streets, or streets and alleyways that are officially a part of the city's street system but were not originally built to standards. Currently, there are 60 miles of Unimproved Streets in the city, mostly in low-income neighborhoods.

San Diego Councilmember Vivian Moreno has pushed back against the longtime city policy of not doing any work on these roadways.

"They have been an afterthought,” Moreno said. “We cannot build, we cannot touch, we cannot even look at, even though on some of these streets they are doing city work. They are picking up trash and doing everything you would do on any normal street."

The councilmember says funding is available and the city needs to make these neighborhoods a priority.