This came in from Helen Marshall:
So we need to find another $45 million for critically bad streets. Does anyone think that this is a complete list? Rep Tolbert queried the omission of Copia. Just about any street that you drive on is in bad shape…can someone point out a really good one?
Cincinnati Avenue, which leads to the official residence of the UTEP president, resembles the surface of the moon. Rim Road from Kerbey to Scenic Drive was scraped some nine or ten years ago, and a fine two-car wide parking strip was created, but the road surface itself was never restored. Comments from city officials indicated that this was deliberate, to slow the traffic! In case you wonder – it doesn’t work.
A suggestion – quality of life in El Paso would be considerably improved by using the $180 million programmed for the “arena” to repair and maintain in good shape ALL the streets!!
elpasospeak 
I live in the Willows and pay $9k a year in property taxes. It is important to note that the city does not pay for our street lights, electricity, landscaped medians or water to to maintain the landscaping. The residents’ dues to the HOAs cover that, so technically the Willows costs the city less than most neighborhoods while its resident-paid amenities contribute to higher property valuations and associated property tax revenue. In 2006, most of our streets ended up under water from the flooding for several days. The cul-de-sac street set-up uses a ponding strategy that results in part of the street and sidewalk holding water after every rain. A water utilities guy that was in our area once told me that the city no longer considers that acceptable drainage. When I checked the street map near my address the roads are listed on the map as condition unknown in spite of the fact that they are cracking and in need of repair plus have inadequate drainage. Right before the Q of L bond vote, many complained about bad streets all around EP and our politicians assured us street repair would be included and would be a priority. Instead of fixing streets they wasting money painting medians, adding LED lights, antique street lights and buying crappy art. We need basic street repair in older neighborhoods and better drainage in areas originally set up to pond, if we want to reduce street maintenance costs going forward. It fundamentally bothers me to hear we have to have an arena downtown because the voters approved it when I remember that those same voters also approved priorizing street repair over everything else. The same arguments that apply to the arena apply to street repair. The longer you wait, the more it is going to cost and needed street repair costs cumulatively are more than the arena cost.
LikeLike
I like the suggestion!
LikeLike
Amen! We do not need no stinkin’ Arena! As for attracting new businesses to El Paso, don’t you suppose they would know enough to know that if the streets are so bad that people could not safely arrive at your precious arena for whatever semi-annual event they might attend, that they would look elsewhere?! We really need new leadership, and some true citizen representation in this old town.
LikeLike
The city has dug such a deep hole on street maintenance and repairs that it will never catch up. Think of it as a small pothole that has become a giant sinkhole. Even $180 million would not make a dent in the repairs that are needed citywide. It’s part of the price for development sprawl that was neither planned or managed well. It’s also the price we pay for fiscal mismanagement and misplaced priorities.
LikeLike
Since taxpayers are being ignored, we need to engage in peaceful protest activity on public streets.
LikeLike