West-of-trail neighborhood residents seek street repairs

The broken curbs on Kathleen Faught’s west-of-the-trail street had finally gotten to her.

“One neighbor says some of her yard washes into the street when it rains, because of the broken curb,” she said.

Out of 30 homes on Floyd Street between Osprey Avenue and Orange Avenue, only three have intact curbs.

The other 27 homes have curbs with varying degrees of damage.

Some have just a few cracks, while others are missing entire 2- or 3-foot sections.

Faught also is concerned about depressions in the roadway that are getting deeper.

“We adore our speed bumps, but they run too close to the road bed, so we end up with large ponds after it rains,” she said.

A resident there for 20 years, Faught can’t remember her block ever being resurfaced.

Mike Del Rossi, a city public works manager, isn’t sure if it’s been 20 years, but he did say that Floyd Street hasn’t been repaved for at least 10 years.

“It’s not in as bad of shape as other streets,” he said.

Wanting to see her street improved, Faught helped organize a petition drive and collected signatures of all but three neighbors on her street.

The petition, however, did not demand that action be taken immediately.

“We know about the city’s budget,” she said. “All we’re asking is that when the city considers its resurfacing projects, we’re put toward the top of the list.”

Floyd Street residents received a response almost immediately.

Del Rossi believes the city will be able to resurface Floyd Street and other roads in that area next year, as part of a larger project.

Faught said the process should be a lesson to other city residents.

“Do what you can to make it easier for someone to help you,” she said. “You’ll get a lot further (by being resonable) than yelling and screaming.”

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected]