Prioritizing fixes for the worst road in town
I love listening to residents’ concerns and acting on them—even if the solutions don’t make headlines—because they are the day-to-day issues that impact everyday life.
In the Fall of 2021, I noticed the intersection of 26th and Orchard was falling apart. The potholes caused damage to vehicles, leading many people to go out of their way to avoid the street. I explored how to repair the road and quickly learned that the potholes would be addressed as part of the construction of Downing Elementary and would be done in early 2022.
From listening to residents (and visiting the street myself!), I knew that would take too long. Every day, I would receive emails from residents about flat tires and broken suspensions caused by potholes. The intersection was in such terrible disrepair that residents needed the problem addressed sooner.
Determined to speed up the process and ease residents’ concerns, I worked with staff to fix the street before the completion of Downing Elementary. The city made more improvements when the school was finished.
Getting these results required persistence and a bit of creative thinking. Initially, I was told that the city did not have funding and that the timing was off to fix the intersection. Inaction wasn’t good enough for me. I worked with staff to find a creative solution, including redeploying our paving team to prioritize the repairs. That meant making timing changes to other repairs because this intersection demanded immediate attention.
I believe in prioritizing the problems that impact residents daily. It’s what I’ve done during my first term as your city councilmember, and it’s what I’ll continue to do if re-elected.
