Why Are Peralta and Mowry in Such Bad Shape? Fremont's Worst Streets, Explained

The short answer

These four roads were not ordinary city streets. They were state highway pavement, maintained to old Caltrans (the California state highway agency) standards. When the state handed them to Fremont, the repair money was tied to a land sale that has not closed yet. Rather than wait, Fremont is advancing the funds and repaving the streets now. Here is how the whole thing works.

These streets used to be State Route 84

Thornton Avenue, Fremont Boulevard, Peralta Boulevard, and Mowry Avenue make up roughly three miles of road between Interstate 880 and Mission Boulevard. For decades, they carried state highway traffic as part of State Route 84 (SR-84) and were maintained by Caltrans. The pavement was built to highway specifications appropriate for the era, and Caltrans, not Fremont, was responsible for upkeep.

In 2018, State Senate Bill 989 authorized a relinquishment, the formal process by which the state hands a road segment to a local city government. Fremont's city council accepted the transfer in July 2019, and the California Transportation Commission approved it in October 2019. One key condition was built into the deal: before the handover, the state would pay to bring the pavement to a "state of good repair," a baseline condition standard that means the road surface is safe, functional, and not in need of immediate rehabilitation.

That condition sounded straightforward. The catch was where the money was supposed to come from.

Why the repair money was slow

The funding mechanism is unusual. The state's repair obligation is backed by proceeds from selling surplus land in Union City, parcels that Caltrans bought decades ago for a freeway (the SR-84 Historic Parkway) that was never built. In 2021, the California Transportation Commission approved conveying that land at an appraised value of $86.184 million, with the sale proceeds due into the repayment account by fiscal year (the state's annual budget cycle, running July to June) 2026-27.

The timeline slipped. Union City is negotiating with a housing developer for the parcels, and the sale has not closed. Per the City of Fremont and Mayor Raj Salwan, the land-sale proceeds may not arrive until roughly 2029. In the meantime, the streets sat with their original highway-era pavement, deteriorating under city traffic loads they were never resurfaced to handle.

What Fremont did instead of waiting

A state law, Assembly Bill 1386 (AB 1386), created a workaround. It allows Fremont to front the repair costs and be reimbursed from the eventual land-sale proceeds, so the city does not have to wait for Union City's deal to close.

The repair program is three phases totaling $17.72 million:

• Phase 1 ($5.11 million): Thornton Avenue, Fremont Boulevard, and Peralta Boulevard up to Sequoia Road. This phase is underway, with funding advanced by the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) and the city.
• Phase 2 ($6.86 million): the remainder of Peralta Boulevard.
• Phase 3 ($5.75 million): Mowry Avenue.

Per the mayor, the city is also asking ACTC to advance more of Fremont's own Measure BB share (see the FAQ below for what Measure BB is) so the later phases can start sooner. The advances would be repaid from the state land-sale proceeds. No new tax is involved.

The numbers in context

Fremont's citywide average pavement condition index, or PCI (a 0-to-100 score used by Bay Area transportation agencies, where higher is better), is 71, according to the 2023 Metropolitan Transportation Commission table. That is a solid rating. For comparison, here are some neighboring cities: Dublin 79, Pleasanton 77, Newark 72, Union City 70, Oakland 57.

But these four former-highway streets pull the average down hard. In an August 2026 public video and social-media thread, Mayor Raj Salwan put Peralta Boulevard's PCI at 29 out of 100, the city's worst, with Mowry Avenue close behind. Those numbers make the gap obvious: the problem was never Fremont's general maintenance. It was a handful of state roads that arrived in poor condition and stayed that way while the funding mechanism stalled.

What this means if you live or buy in Fremont

If you own a home on or near one of these corridors, the repair program is moving. Phase 1 is underway, and the city is working to accelerate Phase 2 and Phase 3. Per the city, the full program is funded through the advance-and-reimburse structure under AB 1386, so the work does not depend on new voter-approved revenue.

If you are buying a home along an arterial road (a major through-street that carries traffic between neighborhoods and connects to highways), check which phase covers that stretch and what the city's current timeline is. Peralta south of Sequoia Road, for example, falls in Phase 2, which has not started yet. Mowry is Phase 3. The city's public works department can confirm the schedule for a specific block.

Construction on your street is temporary disruption, but it ends with new pavement on a road that has needed it for years. That matters day to day: smoother driving, less tire and suspension wear, better drainage, and a street surface that matches the rest of the city.

This page is general information about a public infrastructure project and is not personalized real estate advice. Every home purchase has its own timeline, and the presence or absence of a road project is one factor among many.

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