Takin' it to the STREETS!

Street maintenance, that is. We’re getting major road repairs in my neighborhood and it’s a welcome site. (Pun.) Road maintenance is something I’ve always favored be done by government, though I can see the merits of having some private highways (usually tolled). My street historians tell me it’s the first time in the 17-year history of our street that it has had extensive (any?) work. It has remained in good condition despite the length of time, which attests to the quality of the original construction. (Must not be the same guys that built my HOUSE!)

I shall miss the now patched street-wide crack that was in front of my domicile (pictured). We didn’t lose any children in that crack, and it didn’t get tooo much bigger during the nine years I’ve lived here, but it sure was a crack, never sealed, never filled, just there. When they tore it up you could see the pavement was at least 8-10 inches thick, so no wonder it lasted so well.



A couple of months ago we had these weird-looking reddish pads installed on the street corners in the neighborhood. I assume they are a traction or skid plate to prevent you from slipping or falling. I had never seen the likes before and we already had the handicap accessible, gently sloped to curb-less road entries as I believe were mandated ages ago by the American Disabilities Act. Anyway, Thoutt Construction had the honor to totally tear up all the corners, install the pads, and repave around them. (Glad to see the govt. money going to private companies I presume.) They were so dedicated to doing a good job that they actually tore up at LEAST 3 of the finished corners and redid them because something wasn’t right. I haven’t slipped since! (Or before, actually, but…)

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About a week ago we received a notice that the streets would be milled (ground to that corduroy surface you see during repairs sometimes, I presume) and paved in the near future. Then came the “crack” repair crews. (Pun.) They have since finished most of the cracks in my immediate area and today were doing all four corners at once at my nearby intersection.







LaFarge Construction has been doing the honors for much of the current repair. They are efficient, well-organized, and fast, from my uninformed point of view. It seems too soon for this to be the result of Stimulus money, especially considering the advance planning required. I did find this document: 2009 ASPHALT OVERLAY PROJECT, PROJECT LOCATIONS specifying the work. It came from this page of the DougCo website: http://www.douglas.co.us/publicworks/engineering/Capital_Improvement_Projects.html. Glad to be seeing it done, regardless.