Council eyeing repairs to roads
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on March 22, 2012 1:46 PM
The Goldsboro City Council picked up where it left off last year in discussing street resurfacing as council members insisted there weren't enough roads on Planning Director Randy Guthrie's list of streets to be renovated in the city.
Guthrie presented lists and each council member, except for District 1 Councilman Michael Headen, called for additional roads to be added to the resurfacing lists, with District 2 Councilman Bob Waller once more leading the charge.
Waller quickly pointed out he would like to see Audubon Avenue resurfaced from Royall Avenue to Elm Street -- just as he did nearly a year ago at the council's March 21, 2011, meeting.
District 6 Councilman Jackie Warrick also asked about roads as Guthrie pointed out there were many more roads that could be included on the lists, but this was a starting point.
"It's not meant to be all-inclusive," he said of the list, adding later -- after District 4 Councilman the Rev. Charles Williams asked why Elm Street wasn't included -- that it wasn't possible to include every street.
Guthrie stressed Wednesday morning that the list -- which included 19 street section repairs for $741,663.50 -- was only a draft.
The list, which was accompanied with a list of alternate roads as well, took into account each street's pavement condition rating as well as complaints and concerns expressed by citizens, Guthrie said.
"This is our starting point," he said.
Still, each council member had his own roads to suggest for the list, even as City Manager Scott Stevens admitted his staff could have easily prepared a list with an additional 50 or so roads that need repair. As a cost-cutting measure, the council determined not to budget any street surfacing in the 2011-12 budget.
Council members had previously asked for a mixture of high-volume streets and those that aren't as heavily traveled, leading Guthrie to present the draft list Monday that contained six high-volume sections of road -- Hillcrest Drive, Lockhaven Drive, Mulberry Street, Parkway Drive and Spruce Street.
"There were a lot of streets," Guthrie continued. "But we had to make a cut somewhere."
District 3 Councilman Don Chatman added to the council's list, asking that John Street be considered as well, with Waller once more asking that Audubon be resurfaced.
"That's highly traveled," he said.
Mayor Al King concluded the discussion by suggesting the streets named be added to the lists to be considered at future meetings.