I grew up in Saratoga. My family still lives here. So when I say our roads matter, I don’t mean it in the abstract. Roads are how we visit grandparents on a Sunday, get kids to school on time, reach a job interview or make it to Hakone for a quiet walk after a long week. They connect every one of us—literally.
Those roads are also a promise. You fund them with your taxpayer dollars, and you entrust the city to be a careful steward. That’s why roads are a core responsibility of local government, not an afterthought. Last year alone, Saratoga paved 6.1 miles of streets. Two neighbors might disagree on everything under the sun, but put them in the same car and they’ll agree on one thing: Nobody wants potholes.
When roads and sidewalks are in good condition, they do more than move cars. They serve everyone: the early morning trucks delivering to Safeway, a parent rolling a stroller on a school-day sidewalk, a teen riding to practice, a neighbor in a wheelchair, and an older adult with a cane or walker. For that last group especially, a “small” sidewalk crack or uplift isn’t small—it’s a fall risk. Designing and maintaining for our most vulnerable users makes the system safer for all of us. Our broader safety efforts—from Safe Routes to School to targeted calming measures and ADA ramp upgrades—depend on reliable pavement, clear striping, and smooth sidewalks.
On pavement, our goal is straightforward: keep Saratoga’s network at or above a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 67. PCI is a simple 0–100 scale; think of it like a report card for streets. Hitting that target is harder than it sounds. Once a road falls below a certain threshold, deterioration accelerates and costs climb quickly. Preventive maintenance—sealing cracks, resurfacing at the right moment—costs far less than rebuilding a street that’s been allowed to crumble. In the hills, everything gets tougher and more expensive: Engineering around slopes, drainage and stability can push repair costs to levels far beyond similar fixes in the flatlands. That’s one reason we plan years ahead and bundle projects—to stretch each dollar while keeping the whole system functioning.
In the past four years, Saratoga has invested an average of $3.6 million annually in street improvements. During that same time, we’ve also completed major park projects—including playgrounds, pickleball courts, fire mitigation work, community gardens and residential tree planting—to enhance public spaces and support quality of life.
How do we pay for it? With a mix of state and county dollars, competitive grants and local funds—plus your patience when we close lanes to do the work. We do our best to time projects to minimize disruption and to sequence maintenance so we don’t repave a road one season and dig it up the next for utility upgrades. It isn’t glamorous, but it’s the blocking and tackling of city government.
You can help by letting us know when something’s broken. Use the service request tool on the city website to report potholes, lifted sidewalks, faded striping or damaged signs. Early notice saves money. Please also slow down a bit; design matters, but culture matters, too, and the safest streets are the ones where neighbors look out for one another.
Finally, use what we’re building: Walk the new paths, take the kids to the park (and enjoy those new downtown bathrooms), ride to the Village for a coffee. When people show up, we learn what’s working and where to improve. And behind it all are our incredible city staff—quiet heroes who pour their skill, care and long hours into this work every day. They’re the magicians who make our city move, often unnoticed but never unappreciated.
Our roads and sidewalks—and the wider infrastructure behind them—are among the few things every resident has in common. If we keep investing wisely—maintaining that PCI target, tackling hillside needs with care, fixing trip hazards on sidewalks and designing for people as well as cars—we’ll have a network that carries more than vehicles. It will carry a community.
Belal Aftab is the mayor of Saratoga.