Public Works/Infrastructure

Western City has several guiding values, chief among them collaboration. Unless we are talking about award programs. After two years of county domination, cities have reclaimed their rightful place at the top of the Outstanding Local Streets and Roads Project Awards.

“When we share stories about the opportunities or challenges in our cities, we are generating trust, inspiring people to get involved, and driving progress,” writes Cal Cities President Daniel Parra.

A rapidly changing climate and new state laws are complicating local infrastructure challenges. Yet, the same wisdom still holds true. Success is in the details, and public works are the foundation of a cleaner, sustainable future.

Shell Beach Road is Pismo Beach’s oldest road — and one of its most important downtown connectors. What began as a community concept to make it a safe, efficient, and enjoyable street for all its users turned into one of the largest projects ever completed by the city.

Service providers are often reluctant to deploy high-speed universal broadband due to costs. To get around this, Placentia helped develop new microtrenching construction techniques that allow for quicker broadband deployment, even in areas with no existing connections.

Two innovative infrastructure projects in the cities of Berkeley and Monterey received top honors from the Outstanding Local Streets and Roads Project Award program. The statewide program recognized Berkeley for its renovation of the “worst streets in town” and Monterey for a citywide adaptive traffic control system.

Elected leaders cannot effectively address challenging local issues without the strong bedrock of good government — accountability, responsiveness, and transparency. Recent political turbulence has made building, or even maintaining, that foundation extremely difficult. The Institute of Local Government has a suite of public trust and ethics resources to help local leaders navigate the issues and build a strong foundation for success. 

When the town of Windsor realized that its wastewater treatment facility produced as much as 45% of the town’s total greenhouse gas emissions, it began searching for a cleaner, greener way to power the facility. The resulting project, one of the largest of its kind, has numerous environmental benefits and saves the town about $175,000 annually.

Rural communities face different infrastructure needs and challenges than many larger cities. And although the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has many cities excited about the upcoming opportunities, rural leaders worry that they lack the staff and matching dollars to compete with bigger cities for their fair share of the bounty.