Is there anything you can do, or anything you can buy to seal or temp/fix a street that's about to blow out? Is there a type of slurry seal that's not too expensive? We hate to see our street deteriorate and would like to try something before it gets really bad. Any suggestions would be helpful. P.S. I wouldn't even consider calling the city because I know there are many streets in much more dire need of attention.
Originally posted by TJMac: Is there anything you can do, or anything you can buy to seal or temp/fix a street that's about to blow out? Is there a type of slurry seal that's not too expensive? We hate to see our street deteriorate and would like to try something before it gets really bad. Any suggestions would be helpful. P.S. I wouldn't even consider calling the city because I know there are many streets in much more dire need of attention.
Good luck with that. My street was paved just a few years ago, and it DID NOT even need it. I asked why and they said it was because streets were being done alphabetically. There are plenty of other streets that could have used it. That and the work crews are the rudest I've come across, one tall angry blond woman almost took out the windshield of an elderly woman's car because she misinterpreted her signal. It's a miracle if anything gets done in this town at all with crews like that.
Posts: 35 | Location: Petaluma | Registered: 22 February 2009
Setting aside the question of money (there isn't much) there is another issue at play when it comes to street repair. As I understand it, ONE of the reasons it appears that SOME streets in need of serious repair are "overlooked" in favor of streets that don't seem to need work is they want to do sewer replacement first. In short, they don't want to repave and then come back and tear it up to replace sewers. Just another manifestation of delayed maintenance piling up.
The city put notices in our mail boxes over two years ago!!!! Saying they were gonna replace our road, now mind you I have been through two sets of shocks and one set of tires!! I live on sixth st. and it is soooo baaaad from B st. all the way to I st. My husband used to pave for a living and if the city did it right the first time around, they would not have to come back and pave a road for 20 or so years!!!
My suggestion is to contact the Public Works Department at City Hall. 778-4303 or publicworks@ci.petaluma.ca.us They can list the complaint and it is documented. Maybe then some revenue will be put towards the street repairs. A portion of our garbage bills goes to repairing the streets, so there is a budget for street repairs. Not alot, but if the public makes the request then maybe our City officials will listen. Or Animal will have to come out of retirement. Of course, the City needs some additional revenue to pay for all City maintence needs.
Unfortunately the only true pavement rehabilitation program we have is woefully underfunded. We foolishly used a great deal of redevelopment funding to pave our streets but that source of revenue is off by 33%. Redevelopment should be used for private/public partnerships to leverage investments and increase tax increment- paving hardly qualifies in that regard. As I understand it, we need to spend $7M/annually to keep pace with pavement deterioration and we spend less than a third of that. Some city leaders seem reluctant to search for ways to raise revenues in order to maintain our infrastructure while our streets fall apart, our parks are hanging on by a thread and we luckily have public safety employees who are loyal to our community...but for how long? Our General Fund has collapsed from nearly $52 million to $37 million. We need revenue to survive and certainly need revenue to pave the street in front of your home.
Posts: 270 | Location: Petaluma | Registered: 04 December 2007
No one has addressed my original question. We want to do something ourselves. Is it legal? Where do you buy these slurry seal products? I guess we will try Home Depot. "If you can do it, we will help".
As I stated above, our street is not among the worst in the city....that's why I won't even bother with a call....but every week I sweep gravel as the cracks keep on crackin'.
Originally posted by TJMac: No one has addressed my original question. We want to do something ourselves. Is it legal? Where do you buy these slurry seal products? I guess we will try Home Depot. "If you can do it, we will help".
As I stated above, our street is not among the worst in the city....that's why I won't even bother with a call....but every week I sweep gravel as the cracks keep on crackin'.
I don't know the legalities of it, but if you feel like doing it, why not? You can always try Home Depot to see if they've got what you need, but the reality is, the city needs to take care of it. If you can get your neighbors to pitch in to buy the stuff and fill in what you can, that would take off some of your own work load.
If you can't get it done, just start putting up signs warning drivers who pass through they do so at their own risk because the city can't get it together and fix the problem. It's only going to get worse with the rain. You may not see it as one of the worst, but soon enough, you're going to have HUGE potholes as the pavement begins to break up and your patch job will be a waste of time and money. Call the city, write the city, and get your neighbors to head down to a city council meeting and demand something be done. What if a kid on a bike gets his tires stuck in one of those cracks and is injured? What if a senior crossing over trips and breaks a hip? Is that what it's going to take?
Posts: 35 | Location: Petaluma | Registered: 22 February 2009
You need to stop thinking that you can fix your street repair projects on your own, but inform the City's Public Works Dept. of the repairs needed. PW can schedule inspections and repairs. The streets are the public right of ways, but only the City can make the needed repairs and is held responsible. City Council meets on Mon. March 2nd at 7pm public comment is at the beginning of each meeting. Good luck and let us know what Public Works says after you call or e-mail them.
I know alot of folks in this town were praising his efforts if only from a psychological standpoint. By outlining our beloved potholes with spray paint, he instilled hope that something would get done and the potholes would be fixed. Hey, isn't that exactly what happened?
When have they ever paved a road in Petaluma? I'm not joking, I have never seen them paving roads. I saw them "re-seal" one road near my house, but I don't think they pave roads here. It's just not something they do. I have no clue why.
walk2k, they DID pave a portion of a road about four years ago. The 1-100 block of Maria, from East Washington to almost back side of Mervyn's. This was paved after I complained about a VERY BUMPY bus ride where I dislodged my dentures, bit my tongue, and lost a contact lens.
Three years ago, the city of Petaluma had the perfect streets of Kings Mill and Cader Highlands slurried. I'm sure the maintenance was appropriate, but the streets looked fine, and other streets were in far more need. They went to the cheapest bidder and these fools spilled their slurry all over our gutters and turned our streets into a loose black mess that is now falling apart.
I'll never understand why they would come screw with our streets when there are some streets on the west side that look like a cell of B-52's just made a pass.
