All Roads Lead To Chaos
As is the situation in most parts of the US, the infrastructure is falling apart. More graft occurs when governments, instead of taking care of their creations, set things up where new ones have to be bought or built every few years, that will be just as poorly constructed—or worse—as those they replace.
An article in the local Lost Coast Outpost (LCO) provided the opportunity to remind people that this is not by accident.
Feel free, with or without attribution, to grab some of the thoughts below and illuminate minds in your community.
First, my comment on the LCO's FB Page:
It's like going to a doctor around here. They just mask the problem with drugs, while the patient continues to deteriorate.
Patch the streets, hide the problem temporarily, while the roads continue to fall apart.
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Eureka residents love complaining about potholes. Visit any one of the local community groups on social media and you will surely find dozens – or more likely hundreds – of posts and comments about the potholes that plague our streets and the City of Eureka’s failure to get them fixed.
Team LoCO drives around Eureka quite a bit and, sure, there are potholes out there, but is it really that bad? Where are these car-swallowing craters we’re always hearing about? We decided to take matters into our own hands and ask Facebook. In the first hour, we had over 100 comments.
[Snip]
If a road gets bad enough, crews have to go in and “completely grind and replace” the road, and that can only be done during dry months, [Eureka City Manager Miles] Slattery said.
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When they replace the street, what is going to be different this time, Charlie Brown? Won't this just happen all over again in a few years, since they weren't, and still aren't, built to last?
Deafening silence from the interviewer on the question not asked, and from the interviewee who knows better than to volunteer an answer to the proverbial rhinoceros in the room.
It's not rocket or hidden science...
How the ancient Romans built roads to last thousands of years
Granted, the old-school techniques would need to be updated for heavier vehicles, and faster traffic on the highways, but one would think we have learned something over the centuries.
Besides how to guarantee a continuous giant sucking sound made when the government takes food out of your mouth, and a roof you own from over your head, through "taxes", "licensing fees", and all the rest.
One of the Comments on the LCO FB thread was that the person's vehicle experienced $4K in damages due to a pothole on a major street a month ago, and that the City claimed it didn't know in advance so it wasn't responsible. The pothole still, as you might expect, still hasn't been addressed. (This happens a lot, not just with streets but also with sidewalks and other hazards). To which I replied:
Perhaps the LCO can start a section where everyone that hits a pothole makes a report. Then the City won't be able to dubiously claim that it wasn't, or conveniently forget that it was, put on notice.
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LCO Article:
Everyone Hates Eureka’s Potholes and the City is Preparing to Fill ‘Em