For the last two years the Greensboro City Council has stated they wanted a flat budget, and that’s exactly what they got. But at what cost to Greensboro’s infrastructure?
I recently made a video of driving conditions at the intersection of Lee and Eugene St and shared it on this site. If you haven’t watched it please take a moment and do so – it’s rather short. Since the video was made conditions have only gotten worse; you really should go check it out for yourself.
An article titled “Potholes popping up all over Greensboro” was published in today’s News & Record. From the article,
“Obviously, wintertime is when you are most likely to see them pop out due to the freezing and thawing,” said Mike Mabe, manager of the city’s street maintenance program.
But that’s just half the answer, he said.
Blame the rest on tight budgets in recent years. The city anted-up less money for its annual resurfacing program, which heads off conditions leading to potholes, he said.
“Quite honestly, we’re not able to provide the same level of service as in the past,” Mabe said.
Last year, the city saved money — at least, in the short term — by not carrying out its annual resurfacing contract.
Long term, if you cut corners on repaving worn streets, reality bites you from behind with potholes now and more extensive resurfacing efforts required later, he said.”
If you watched the previously mentioned video you might have come to the realization that reality has indeed bitten Greensboro from behind.
While a flat budget is likely appreciated by many taxpayers, one might imagine that there comes a time that the council must take a leadership position and say, “We are going to go backwards and cost ourselves more in the long run if we don’t have the budget to maintain what we already have.”
The current council has stated that infrastructure is one of their focuses… but if you drive through the intersection of Lee and Eugene St., you will quickly see… no, you will feel the neglect and need for attention.
