CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — This week, Corpus Christi City Council approved the reconstruction of 43 more residential roads. It's part of the Residential Street Rebuild Program (RSRP), and many are thinking, 'well how come my street wasn’t chosen?'
“It’s about time. It’s been over a year I think,” Juanita Gonzales said.
Gonzales lives on Texas Avenue where part of her street is already being reconstructed. But this street is also now listed as one of the 43 residential streets approved by city council, in a $19.8 million reconstruction plan.
"Potholes, you know, that you need to go around so that way, your tires especially, they won’t be damaged," said Gonzales.
"If we catch a street that is too far gone because of pavement failures or deferred maintenance or just flat work never got to it, that’s all going to increase the chances for reconstruction," Rolando Mata said, director of public works.
The city will scout roads themselves, but public input is carefully considered as well. The city has a tip line for people to call in their street issues like potholes, repaving and so on. Mata said some people are vocal, but he thinks the public could be taking advantage of it more.
"Calling in your street for pothole repairs, for base and pavement repairs, any kind of pavement failure that you’re reporting in may weigh out this street compared to another street," he said.
Overall, Gonzales is glad to see her street finally get fixed. She said Texas Avenue has had numerous times where water would pool on the street. Mata said those streets deteriorate faster.
"It does not have a positive flow, that street will wear out faster," he said. "That's where you're going to see more of your potholes or an increase in potholes."
"I didn’t have a sidewalk," Gonzales said. "For 36 years I did never have a sidewalk. Now I do have a sidewalk which is nice, which is nice. But I just think that the city would have done the job a lot faster."
The city is now working on a comprehensive plan to better map out the city.
"We are doing the Pavement Conditioning Index that also got budgeted for, which is going to give us a pavement evaluation, in the next year or so," said Mata. "That way, we'll have a true sense of what's out there."
Prior to these 43 streets, 49 other residential streets were approved for reconstruction as part of RSRP. In June 2020, the city approved $13.7 million for 34 streets, In April of this year another $6.1 million was approved for an additional 15 streets.
Overall, Gonzales said she’s happy this is being done. If you need repairs on your street, you can put it on the city’s radar by calling public works at 361-826-CITY(2489).
For the latest local news updatesclick here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
