Wednesday, April 6, 2016

When Will My Crumbling Street Be Repaved?



Hello, Yupette,

Spring arrives in Arlington. One drives around the County dodging potholes and broken pavement. It's worse if you ride a bicycle. When will my crumbling street be repaved?

Maybe this year. The County Board just approved $11.5 million for milling and repaving the worst streets, roads, and trails, those that were allowed to deteriorate to the point where they couldn't be repaired by slurry coating (Consent Agenda Item 13 on March 12th).

Two constructuon companies will do the repaving, Finley in North Arlington and Ft. Meyer in South Arlington.

The bad news is the amount of repaving that can be done for $11.5 million depends on the width of the streets that need repaving. And wide streets like Wilson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard need repaving.

It's also disconcerting to see where the funds for CY 2016 repaving will come from. About $6.4 million will come from a 2014 bond referendum, about $3.8 million will come from carried-over pay-as-you-go funds from FY 15 and FY 16, and about $2.1 million from the yet-to-be-approved FY 17 budget. Which leads me to wonder whether the County's bond rating firms know about the fiscal shenanigans that are being played so the County can maintain its AAA bond rating.

Oh, County also had an item on the March 12th Consent Agenda for a new parking deck for County employees who work at and out-of the Trades Center. About $6.6 million for 155 parking spaces. Do the math.

Thanks for your blog.

Beth, 22205