Thanks to Justin Weldy, our Town’s Public Works director, for his presentation to our Town Council on April 18. In case you missed it, he clarified some street misunderstandings and addressed history.

As a member of the ad hoc volunteer Streets Committee, I can assure you the committee is wrestling with some very complex issues. At the moment, we’re still examining a 2023 professional assessment of street conditions, together with two other assessments conducted in 2008 and 2018, to determine what it will take to fix everything.

Looking back, “fixes” have been limited by available revenues, and only once did voters agree to an influx of new money, an $8 million Saguaro bond in 2013. For 33 years, monies to fix our streets, many now 50 years old, have come from a combination of general funds, state-shared revenues and sales taxes. Fortunately, two years ago the Council committed nearly $10 million from one-time federal COVID funds, but even that will not be enough to catch up.

Since 2016, $14.8 million has been spent on our streets, nearly 70% having occurred in just the past four years. It’s clear that streets deteriorate naturally at their own pace and as a result, streets dictate the amount of funds needed annually. But even after a street is fixed, deterioration starts again; it never ends. Thus, having ample maintenance funds becomes essential to sustaining the pavement lifecycle.

Based on voiced comments, many residents want more to be done, and now. But it may be, after the Streets Committee wades through all the issues, a conclusion could be reached that until voters agree to provide more funds, existing revenues will not be enough to fix everything.

At the moment, I believe our Town staff is doing its best with limited resources, despite claims otherwise.