Photo by Karl Nielsen

Our annual assessment of which Bay Area cities have the best and worst streets is out. The lowest-ranked pavement in the Bay Area was found in the Marin County city of Larkspur and the Napa County city of St. Helena, each of which recorded a Pavement Condition Index score of 44 for the three-year period running from 2009 to 2011. On the 100-point scale, a score below 50 is considered "poor," while a score of 80 to 89 is considered "very good." The top-ranked city in the region is Brentwood in Contra Costa County (score of 86), followed by Belvedere in Marin County (score of 85) and Dublin in Alameda County (score of 84). Overall, pavement  on the Bay Area's 42,600 lane-miles of local streets and roads remains in "fair" condition, with an average score of 66. MTC is actively engaged in helping cities and counties improve pavement conditions through its StreetSaver online system for tracking pavement conditions and scheduling treatments and repairs. See the full story on the Pavement Report Card.

Wirth roadheader used in Caldecott Tunnel Photo by Karl Nielsen

The giant, 130-ton Wirth roadheader made news when it first arrived in 2010 from Europe to begin the tunneling for the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore through the East Bay hills. Over the ensuing two years, the spiked roadheader chewed through several geological formations, including rock dating back to the Miocene period 5 to 23 million years ago, wearing away a total of 4,000 drill teeth in the process. In October of this year, contractors dismantled the massive machine, signaling the completion of the excavation. The bore is now nearly 50 feet wide and 40 feet tall for its entire 3,389-foot length from Oakland to Orinda, and work is shifting from excavation to final concrete work, with the opening scheduled for late 2013. Stay on top of progress at the project's newly revamped website. And watch a video of the final stages of tunneling.

While the digging is done, the story of the men who moved mountain and earth to drill the Caldecott Fourth Bore lives on in a collection of gritty photos by Caltrans photographer John Huseby and MTC photographer Karl Nielsen. The "Tunnel Vision" photo exhibit debuted at MTC earlier this year is now traveling to various locations around the East Bay. For a schedule and/or to view the photos, go to the project site.

This photo by Karl Nielsen of the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore breakthrough won the Grand Prize in an AASHTO photo competition.

Meanwhile, photographer Karl Nielsen has been recognized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) for two stunning photographs he took of the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore construction. His photograph of the breakthrough was selected as the Grand Prize Winner in the Faces of Transportation competition. And his portrait of a Caldecott miner was selected as the winner in the Building the Future category. See more here.