Carson City transportation commission told road repair funding insufficient

Carson City road repair needs require $2.2 million or more annually but the city has less than $1 million for the purpose, according to a report to the Regional Transportation Commission.

The report from Public Works Department officials dealt with both repair needs and lack of money for street projects to upgrade the traffic system, but much of the focus dealt with a backlog in repair and maintenance stemming from the gap due to dwindling gasoline tax revenues.

“Our streets are deteriorating,” Supervisor John McKenna, the RTC chairman, said Thursday after hearing Wednesday afternoon’s assessment from Transportation Manager Patrick Pittenger and Public Works Director Darren Schulz.

Pittenger followed the report up on Thursday by saying he and Schulz know the $2.2 million isn’t a static number and is going higher in the future.

The rate of increase in the gap may well accelerate if more revenues don’t materialize, according to the two Public Works officials.

Supervisor Brad Bonkowski, also an RTC member, said after the report in 2016, the question of indexing gasoline tax will go to voters in Nevada and that is a potential revenue source.

Pittenger, meanwhile, said the stream of gas tax revenue declined through the recession years and hasn’t recovered due to various factors.

Among them, Pittenger has said repeatedly, are less driving by motorists and more fuel efficient vehicles.