- Over 150 miles of streets and paths in the city of Jackson.
- The underground infrastructure – much of it outdated – will be a focus for 2024, says city spokesman Aaron Dimick.
- Nevertheless, the city of Jackson will have paved approximately 2.4 kilometers of road in 2024.
- The city only renovates streets if the neighbors contribute through special contributions.
- Special levies can mean thousands of dollars in additional taxes.
- The video features neighbors and city spokesman Aaron Dimick, showing streets with new asphalt, partially resurfaced streets, streets still under renovation, and streets that were rated as the worst in Jackson earlier this year.
(The following is a transcript of the entire broadcast)
More than 150 miles of roads and paths in the city of Jackson mean a lot for road crews to do during construction season. Earlier this year, we looked at some of the worst problems in Jackson. Let’s see if there have been any improvements – and where those improvements have been made.
“Have you ever seen anyone drive so hard into that (pothole)?”
“Yes, I do.” – Myron Smith, Jackson Neighbor
The last time we spoke to Myron Smith, there was a large pothole in front of his house on Deyo Street.
“They did it three days after the broadcast…” says Smit. “They filled everything in and stuff. They should do that all over the city.”
Deyo Street still looks a bit run down here, but some repairs have been done.
Washington between Cooper and Elm – still waiting for his chance.
But over on High Street between South and Executive – a nice long stretch of new sidewalk.
Also Elm Avenue.
A short stretch of new sidewalk here on Oakridge…and also two blocks of Blakely between Elm and Pleasant.
Burr St. between Cooper and Waterloo – partial resurfacing.
FULL LIST CITY OF JACKSON BUILDING PLANS FOR 2024.
A total of around 2.5 kilometers of new road surface will be built this year, says city spokesman Aaron Dimick.
“Often people look at our road projects and think it’s just about roads,” Dimick notes. “But here in the city of Jackson, we actually saw a lot of important work this spring, summer and fall that was about more than just roads. And a lot of that is underground infrastructure work.”
Here on McBride Street, the water main and lead service lines are being replaced. There are no plans for a road reconstruction as no estimates have been approved, but the road repair should eliminate most of the potholes we showed you earlier this year.
“They told me when this is done, the half that they tore up for the line will be paved and the other half will stay as it was,” says neighbor Steve Darragh. “They’re not going to do that. That’s crazy.”
Over on Biddle Street, a complete reconstruction is taking place.
“They’re good. It’s good. They worked hard on it. Did a good job. It turned out beautiful,” says neighbor Michael Powell.
But the bottom line is, as the city has already stated:
“Our current funding structure is not sufficient to address the rapidly deteriorating condition of our roads.”
The message is clear: without significant additional funding, the pace of road construction in the City of Jackson is expected to remain roughly the same.
FIND OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE ON THIS SUBJECT HERE.
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