Tag: repaving

Victory for AJ?

meisajDaily Life

We got a letter from our local city government yesterday.

It says they are now going to repave our road this fall.

I’ve been arguing for it since early April when I saw that we were not on the list of roads they considered for repaving this year. I went to a city council meeting to find out why we going to be repaved last year before they decided to cut our road for budget reasons and then opted not to pave it this year.

That did not go well. I wrote about here. Basically, our street is not a “through street” and thus “not a priority.” And because major roads around us have been paved recently, they had no reason to bring paving equipment back to our area just to work on our street.

I’ve been emailing and leaving messages for various public officials since. I had been told that “fingers crossed” our street could be covered by a state paving project and that was the only way we could be paved this year. Maybe that is what happened, but I wrote our services department three weeks ago when details for that project were released and our street was not part of that project.

I never got a response to that email. I specifically asked what it would take for our street to be a priority for the services department, like they said through streets are. That our street is still crumbling, that I have to direct Marceline around potholes on her bike so she can learn to ride, and that my youngest still picks up chunks of the road every time we walk despite them claiming to have cold patched all of the potholes earlier in the year.

Soooo… victory. I fought the man and won. I don’t want to take full credit but I feel vindicated for my effort.

Now if I can get the sound wall study redone I’ll feel really good.

City Council

meisajDaily Life

I want to my local city council to find out why our street that has been scheduled to be repaid for the last 2 years but continually put off for budget concerns who wasn’t on the press release for repaving this year.

Despite being a principal having to talk in front of crowds and many occasions, I don’t enjoy public speaking. But I was annoyed enough to want to go and do this.

I did my research, it’s been 28 years since our street was last paved. I was in high school three states away when it happened. Since then it’s only been patches here or there.

I even drove down the streets that was listed as the ones being repaved this year. They’re all in better condition than our street.

I told them how our girls can pick up on chunks of our road and multiple places when we go for walks. And that no digging is required. You can just reach down and pick up the road. I told him it’s not fun to have to tell your kid to put the road down.

I also knew the excuses they were going to use. Which they did.

Our street is a cul-de-sac off a cul-de-sac. Not a through street. Through streets are the priorities I was told.

Last year budget concerns were the reason that we weren’t repaved. It was “bad.”

This year they said they are really hoping they might be able to attach repaving our street onto the budget for a large repaving. A few streets over. But no guarantees.

What it comes down to is that our cul-de-sac and the cul-de-sac it is attached aren’t worth it to repave unless they are doing some other street repaving in the vicinity. Which most nearby streets have been repaved recently.

So we’re screwed.

Yay.