Council committee gives tentative approval to street excavation - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Council committee gives tentative approval to street excavation plan

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A proposal to better coordinate excavations of city streets by area utilities and increase utilities' excavation fees received tentative approval Thursday in a unanimous vote by the San Diego City Council's Land Use and Housing Committee.

The plan -- which will be forwarded to the full City Council for final approval at a future meeting -- calls for utilities to provide the city with a comprehensive list of projects planned for the next two years in which area streets will be torn up.

According to city staff, that will enable them to coordinate utility projects with the city's road resurfacing plans. They said one of the biggest complaints by residents is when a street is dug up just after it is repaved.

The proposed regulations would extend a moratorium on digging into roads that have received slurry seal, a mixture of emulsified asphalt and sand that protects road surfaces, from one year to three years, and on new pavement from three years to five years. Exceptions would be granted as long as the pavement is returned to good condition.

New fees would be phased-in, and the council members expressed support for a study that will allow the city to eventually recover all of its costs.