Letter to the Editor: Neglected street

Dear Editor:

I live on a street called Tristan Drive. Not the Tristan in North Downey but a short little street in the center of Downey near the Coca-Cola factory.

Our street is in various stages of disrepair and has been this way for as long as I’ve lived here. I called city hall a few years back to find out what the schedule was for street maintenance and was told most streets got serviced about every 12 years. I have lived here for almost 25 years and aside from patching potholes twice when things got pretty extreme, I have never seen any work done on our street.

In 2016 all the streets around us were getting a new coat of slurry. The two streets on either side of us and the one behind us all got repaired so I waited anxiously for our street to be next but it never happened.

When I called to find out why, they explained that the city uses a company to give each street in Downey a score from 1 to 100. 100 would be a perfect street and 1 would be in extreme disrepair. Most streets get a score of about 50. Our street received a score of 11. It was decided that a slurry seal on our street would be a waste of money.

So the solution? Do nothing. Yes, that’s right. Our street was so bad that they decided to do nothing at all. I was shocked with their answer.

What bothers me even more is that for many years I worked at a school in North Downey and drove down the same street every day. I realize we are not the only street in Downey in disrepair but in the 19 years I drove that street, they had major maintenance done three times. I confirmed this with city records. At no point did it ever look bad to me nor did it have potholes.

In 2020, I contacted our district representative who was also shocked and told me she would look into it. At first it seemed promising. We spoke a few times and I was to follow up after the holidays. When I called back in the new year, she was apologetic but said there was nothing she could do.

Who is in charge of the maintenance schedule because it seems a little off. Again, I realize there are many streets that need work done and that money is scarce but I do think the streets that have been neglected the longest or received the lowest scores should be a priority. According to city records, the last major repair to our street was done in 1994, almost 30 years ago.

But don’t worry. We are scheduled to have some repairs done at the end of 2023 and I quote, “assuming there are funds”. Only a little over a year to go.

In the meantime, I watch where I walk each evening, am crossing my fingers and remain patient and hopeful.

J. Saldana
Downey