Monterey County is now letting private landowners fund road repairs near their properties.

Monterey County is taking a new approach to fixing roads that are in disrepair: private funding.

The county is moving forward with a public-private partnership that will finance repairs to a 2.7-mile stretch of East Carmel Valley Road, near Cachagua Road, after the Board of Supervisors approved the plan on May 16.

The partnership will see the Silicon Valley Community Foundation provide a grant covering 100 percent of the construction costs, or $2.9 million, through a donor-advised fund acting on behalf of Fox Creek Ranch – a 276-acre property featuring vineyards and equestrian facilities that is located just off the section of East Carmel Valley Road in question. The county will fund the remaining design and project management costs, estimated at $725,000.

The arrangement is the result of recent efforts by the county to find alternative sources of funding in lieu of an estimated $1.5 billion in “long-term deferred maintenance for roads and bridges,” according to Randell Ishii, Monterey County’s director of public works, facilities and parks.

Ishii cites a 2020 county report that determined the county would need to invest $600 million over 10 years to improve its 1,200 miles of roads countywide to a pavement condition index (PCI) score of 70, or “fair” on the PCI scale. That $60 million annual expenditure would roughly double the county’s current budget for roads and bridges.

“There’s a big gap between our means versus what we need in order to get to that maintainable level,” Ishii says. To that end, the Public Works Department has increasingly entertained public-private partnerships, after being contacted by private property owners indicating interest in funding portions of road repairs in order to expedite the work.

The partnership with Fox Creek Ranch is the first time the county has pursued such an arrangement, according to Ishii, after the property’s owner reached out last fall about improving the portion of East Carmel Valley Road providing access to the ranch. While Public Works had outlined a program prioritizing projects where a private backer funded 50 percent of the total cost, Fox Creek Ranch agreed to cover all construction costs to speed up the process.

The work will involve a standard repaving of the 2.7-mile stretch of road in question and is expected to commence by early September, “if not sooner,” Ishii says. The road is expected to remain open during construction via one-lane traffic control.

Ishii adds that Public Works has received “some interest” from other private entities about pursuing a similar arrangement elsewhere.

County Supervisor Mary Adams, whose district includes Carmel Valley, says that despite initial skepticism, she’s now “very comfortable” with using public-private partnerships to shore up local infrastructure.

“So many roads and bridges are in terrible condition here,” Adams says. “In a district where we have so many county roads, and so many competing interests for funding throughout the county, it’s been a challenge.”

Ryan Meyers, Fox Creek’s ranch director, tells the Weekly that the property “is a proud member of the Carmel Valley community and as such, we are happy to contribute to the well-being of the community’s infrastructure which we and all Carmel Valley residents rely on.”

Meyers did not specify whether Fox Creek Ranch was directly involved in the grant provided by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation fund, noting that the donation “is intended to be anonymous.” He did not immediately respond to questions about who owns the property.

The foundation’s donor-advised funds are popular among Silicon Valley’s tech elite, who receive tax breaks for their donations. A Silicon Valley Community Foundation spokesperson says the organization does not comment on its donors’ identities nor their philanthropic activities without their permission.

Updated, May 25: This story has been updated to include comment from Fox Creek Ranch representatives.