Rough road riles residents in Paso Robles

Some residents in rural Paso Robles are concerned about the condition of one particular road.

It’s a one mile stretch of Jardine Road that has some residents sounding off.

While it was annexed to the city about 20 years ago, the county has since put up signs alerting drivers of the rough road ahead.

"It rattles, it shakes," said resident Don Reynolds. "Sometimes it throws you around depending on how you hit the potholes."

Neighbors say Jardine Road from Beacon Road to Tower Road has been riddled with potholes for years.

"It tears up the tires and people don’t slow down and it makes as far as steering, dangerous," said another resident, John Jung.

Jung has lived off Jardine Road for more than three decades. He says in that time, not much has changed.

"The road itself has been like this for the last 30 years. The condition of it is very poor," he said.

The city says it’s aware of the road’s condition. Jung and other neighbors see the potholes being filled every so often.

"It’s just putting patches on top of patches," Reynolds said. "Like the darker ones, they don’t help at all. They’re just something else that throws your car up."

But concerned neighbors say there’s more than one safety hazard.

"It bangs your car around so much that people try to avoid all the potholes and all of that; they drive on the shoulder, they drive on the other lane," Reynolds continued.

Cars drove on the shoulder while our cameras were rolling. They also drove on the wrong side where the pavement was smoother.

"Why isn’t the city living up to their end of it?" Reynolds questioned. "This is, and it’s not just a temporary thing, is one of my biggest griefs, is that this has been for years."

The city says what it all comes down to is funding and right now there are not enough funds to get this particular stretch of road fixed.

The city adds that it has a $5 million annual budget for roads. This project would cost an estimated $1.5 million, according to the public works director.