Repaving controversy: Study shows added streets were not in terrible shape

The City’s Pavement Index, a comprehensive city study documenting street conditions, shows the streets paved this year without the authorization of city council were not in bad shape.

The index was thoroughly completed in 2008 and is the basis of the City’s more than $200 million Streets Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, which is funded through certificates of obligation or debt. The CIP was approved by City Council in 2012 and recently, City Rep. Larry Romero has been criticized because streets in his district that were not on the list were repaved this year and no one at the City can explain how they were added to the list.

Romero has said he only expressed to the Engineering Department which streets he believed were more important based on constituent input but denies giving orders to add them to the CIP.

According to the Index, none of the streets added in Romero’s district were in terrible shape or deemed a priority. The lowest scoring street was Cumberland at Pershing, which had a 42.05 score out of 100. The lower the score, the worse off the street is.

The other streets had scores between 47 and 53. But Louisiana between Mobile and Richmond, which was also not on the list but was repaved this year, had a score of 78.68, a decent evaluation. And Hondo Pass, with the exception of a small stretch between Dyer and Diana, had almost perfect scores at 80 or 100, yet it was repaved this year.

Things have changed since 2008. It could be possible that some of the streets romero wanted repaved were in worse shape than what the study indicated in 2008. But it’s still unclear why there was no process in place to better regulate the altering of the CIP.

A City Spokesman said it’s unclear but it is possible some streets on the CIP will not be paved because they were replaced with the added streets.

Romero did not return a call seeking comment.