Road infrastructure & maintenance backlog
San Diego faces an estimated $8 billion infrastructure backlog even after adopting its FY2027 budget. Mayor Gloria identified fixing roads, sidewalks, and neighborhood infrastructure as a top budget priority. Critics, including Councilmember Henry Foster, argue there is no real strategic plan to close the multi-billion dollar gap, and that without one the city faces long-term deterioration. Road repaving funds were a flashpoint in budget negotiations, including debate over whether to preserve a multimodal traffic engineering team.
How should San Diego address its $8 billion infrastructure maintenance backlog?
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Sources
inewsource — https://inewsource.org/2026/06/09/san-diego-budget-crisis-infrastructure-gap
The multi-billion dollar infrastructure deficit is the biggest crisis facing the city because there is no real plan to address it. Without some kind of strategic vision to close that gap — as well as actually resolve the city's ongoing structural budget deficit — the city will continue to languish, and it's really just a countdown to failure.
NBC 7 San Diego — https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/politics/san-diego-budget-2026-politically-speaking-kent-lee/4035387
The City of San Diego has a balanced budget for this year, but still stares down an $8B infrastructure backlog.
Councilmember Henry Foster — https://voiceofsandiego.org/2026/10/06/councilmember-foster-doubles-down-on-discontent-with-mayor
You would think his priority should be our infrastructure. His priority should be making sure we don't have floods like we did in 2024.
KPBS / public commenters — https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/06/09/san-diego-city-council-looks-to-close-15-3-million-gap-going-into-tuesdays-budget-vote
The decision to cut the multimodal team was one of the most discussed topics among public comment at Friday's meeting. At least 12 speakers asked council members to restore this funding, saying it was critical for bike and pedestrian safety.
Positions on this issue · liberal → conservative
- Issue infrastructure bonds and raise new revenue to fully fund a comprehensive, multi-year repair plan.
- Develop a strategic long-term plan, blend public funding with federal grants, and prioritize underserved areas.
- Maintain current road repaving funding levels and incrementally reduce the backlog within the existing budget.
- Focus only on safety-critical repairs; defer lower-priority maintenance until revenues improve.
- Cut infrastructure spending to balance the budget; rely on private investment and state funding for major repairs.