Town of Paradise Answers 10 Frequently Asked Questions About Road Rehabilitation and Utility Coordination
Town of Paradise Answers 10 Frequently Asked Questions About Road Rehabilitation and Utility Coordination
August 25, 2026
As the Town of Paradise continues one of the most extensive roadway rehabilitation efforts in its history, residents are seeing the results of years of coordination between post-Camp Fire utility reconstruction, undergrounding and permanent road improvements.
With multiple utility providers and public agencies completing projects throughout Paradise, work may occur on the same roadway at different times or overlap with other construction in the region. The Town has developed the following 10 frequently asked questions to help explain how these projects are coordinated, why road rehabilitation has been phased over several years, and what residents can expect as the Town moves closer to completing its roadway recovery program.
Q1: Why is so much utility work happening throughout Paradise?
A1: The decision to underground utilities was community-led following the 2018 Camp Fire. PG&E has spearheaded a joint-trench approach for much of the underground utility work, creating an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild Paradise with more resilient infrastructure.
Q2: Who is performing all of this work?
A2: Four typically independent utility providers are coordinating work within our roadways: PG&E for electric and natural gas, Comcast, AT&T, and Paradise Irrigation District (PID) for water. PG&E’s undergrounding generally utilizes a joint trench for electric and communications infrastructure, while PID’s water infrastructure is installed separately through its own projects.
Q3: Why might the same road have utility construction more than once?
A3: There are several separate infrastructure systems within our roadways, and the number and type of projects vary from street to street. Utility undergrounding, water main improvements and individual service connections are separate projects that may occur at different times and are performed by their respective utility providers.
Service connections are also specific to each utility. Early in the recovery, PID prioritized water service lateral replacements as properties rebuilt. Around 2023, PID expanded that effort to replace service laterals regardless of rebuild status, with that townwide work completed last year. PG&E’s undergrounding work has included service laterals to properties.
These separate projects and schedules are why residents may see utility construction occur on the same roadway at different times, even with extensive coordination among the Town and utility providers.
Q4: If a utility trench has already been paved, why does the road still need rehabilitation?
A4: Much of the asphalt installed after utility construction is temporary or semi-permanent trench restoration. It keeps the roadway safe and usable while underground projects are completed. It is not the same as the Town’s full-width road rehabilitation.
Q5: How does the Town coordinate its final road rehabilitation projects with the utilities?
A5: In conjunction with the Town’s “Dig Once” policy, the Town and utility providers have undertaken a comprehensive utility-road rehabilitation coordination process. The goal is to properly sequence projects, minimize re-excavation of completed work, reduce community impacts, and avoid permanently paving a road when known underground work remains.
At a minimum, Town road projects have been coordinated behind PG&E undergrounding. Most have also been coordinated behind PID service lateral replacements, with some roadways also affected by PID water main replacements. This coordination occurs well in advance of construction as schedules are developed and adjusted around known utility work.
Even with extensive coordination, some future excavation is inevitable. Emergencies, leaks, utility failures, new service needs and other unplanned repairs can require a roadway to be opened after it has been rehabilitated.
To help protect the community’s investment in newly improved roads, the Town Council has adopted enhanced pavement restoration requirements for subsequent excavations. Roads improved within the previous three years are considered “moratorium roads” and are subject to expanded restoration standards when excavation is unavoidable. Roads improved more than three but less than ten years earlier are also subject to enhanced trench restoration requirements.
The objective is twofold: avoid cutting into newly rehabilitated roads whenever reasonably possible, and when excavation cannot be avoided, require a higher level of restoration to protect the roadway and extend its useful life.
Q6: What makes Paradise’s road rehabilitation different from a typical road paving project?
A6: Much of Paradise’s work is a comprehensive roadway rehabilitation rather than simply placing a new layer of asphalt over an existing road. Depending on the condition of each roadway, work may include pulverizing or removing existing pavement, rebuilding or strengthening the underlying roadway structure, addressing localized failures, and installing a new permanent pavement surface.
This approach represents a significant long-term investment in the roadway itself. Wherever possible, the Town also sequences this rehabilitation after known utility work is complete so that the finished roadway can remain intact and provide many years of service.
Q7: Why has Paradise’s road rehabilitation taken several years?
A7: There are practical limits to how much road construction can occur at one time. Our primary construction season generally runs from April through November, and delivering more than approximately 20–25 miles of road rehabilitation in a single season would create significant community impacts and make day-to-day travel throughout Paradise extremely difficult.
The Town’s road projects must also follow known underground utility work wherever possible so that newly rehabilitated roads are not immediately excavated again. For these reasons, the program has been intentionally phased across multiple years—balancing the desire to complete roads as quickly as possible with utility sequencing, construction capacity and maintaining reasonable access throughout Paradise.
Q8: Why can’t the Town avoid overlapping construction with Caltrans and Butte County projects?
A8: The Town coordinates and shares project schedules with Caltrans and Butte County, particularly when construction may affect regional travel routes. However, each agency is responsible for delivering its own projects and must work within its respective funding requirements, contracts, schedules and deadlines.
At times, this means projects must move forward simultaneously. The result can be frustrating—for example, when motorists avoiding construction on one route encounter another agency’s project on an alternate route. We continue to coordinate with our regional partners to minimize these situations wherever possible, but completely eliminating overlapping construction impacts across multiple agencies is not always achievable.
Q9: What does the Town require of its contractors to remain emergency and evacuation ready during construction?
A9: Emergency access and evacuation readiness are built into the Town’s construction requirements. Contractors must maintain access for emergency vehicles through work areas without delay and coordinate traffic-control changes with the Town’s Police and Fire Departments.
Temporary road closures and detours require Town approval, must maintain emergency ingress and egress, and must include contingency plans to safely reopen the roadway if equipment failures or other delays disrupt the planned work.
The Town also has heightened requirements during periods of increased wildfire risk. During National Weather Service Red Flag Warnings, contractors may be required to remove temporary traffic controls affecting lane closures or ingress and egress, or take immediate steps to safely reopen the roadway.
These requirements are intended to ensure that while major road improvements are underway, Paradise remains prepared for emergency response and evacuation when every minute matters.
Q10: How much progress has been made?
A10: By the end of 2026, 93 of Paradise’s approximately 100 miles of public roadways are anticipated to have been rehabilitated since 2022. The remaining 7 miles are planned for future years in coordination with broader infrastructure improvements, including additional turn lanes to improve safety and evacuation capacity, as well as new pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
