Campaign to save city streets
The construction and pot holes on Topeka streets aren’t only affecting cars, trucks and buses. Martha Pohl, a resident here, had her wheel chair get stuck in a pot hole.
“But my wheels were totally blocked by these big piece of curbing that had been knocked off.. And I could not go forward I could not go backward and I began to panic.”
She was eventually helped by a man that saw her stuck on the side of the road. But while she was alone she felt helpless.
“I was just to the point where I.. You know.. I thought I might have to call 911…and it was something that I felt very angry about…It should never have happened.”
There is a campaign that might prevent that from ever happening again. On April 7th, Topekans will get to vote on whether or not they want a sales tax increase and Fix the streets is asking people to vote yes. The cost would spread to everyone who travels in Topeka so 40 percent of funds raised would be coming from outside of Topeka.”
City spokeman David Bevens says there are really only two options when it comes to our streets.
“The bottom line is the streets need to be repaired. And they will be repaired or they will continue to deteriorate so those are really our two options… How we pay for that depends on uh the voters.”
On April 7th will get to decide whether the cost of roads justifies the means of paying higher taxes.
Why do we all of the sudden need a new tax to fix streets, we have been fixing them for untold years anyway?
Steven,
More than three-fourths of our streets have been rated as unacceptable. Using current funding for public works, Topeka cannot keep up with repairs. The City Council, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, feels that Topeka needs to make this change, and procure additional funding for street maintenance and repair. It is an ongoing process, and there will always be some kind of repair going on in the City. But if we pass this sales tax issue, we’ll see better streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and alleys!
To see a cost breakdown of how the money would be spent, please read this article: http://www.fixtopekastreets.com/?p=152 . This also includes links to the City’s budget charts. Thank you for voicing your concerns!
Interesting that you have maps that show the “required fixes”, however when I checked my neighborhood the streets you show need repair are in good shape and no where near the point to which we need to raise taxes and if not it will all fall apart. Everyone needs to think through whether raising taxes in this economy is the smartest thing to do. And there is no cap nor any limit on where the funds will go.
Bob, some streets need more work than others. The street you live on might be fine, but the streets you use to get to work or to the grocery store are likely a different story!
I heard on the news today that Topeka was using the stimulus money it was receiving to build another roundabout. Why?? When the actual streets themselves are in terrible disrepair. How many miles?? 680 from what I hear? We will be and have been fine without the roundabouts but we do need decent roads.
State or federal money is set aside specifically for the construction of roundabouts - which make traffic safer. It would be great if we could use this money for immediate repairs, but the roundabouts will help in the long run!
The federal stimulus dollars Sheryl is referring to did not go to the city. Those dollars are going to the county. There was $11 million dollars of stimulus dollars spread out throughout Northeast Kansas, Topeka did not get any of the funds. The roundabouts Sheryl is talking about are out on N 46th ST outside of the city. We need the streets in Topeka fixed - there are not federal stimulus dollars for that. We need to create our own stimulus, just like the federal government is doing the money has to come from somewhere and there is no more money in the city budget unless they raise the property tax. I don’t want that, it is much more fair to raise the sales tax a little bit and have those who come into to Topeka for all the conventions, sports events, entertainment and to work here help us keep our streets in good repair. I want the sales tax to pass. I think there are some people out there who are trying to confuse the public with misinformation. The facts are we need to fix the streets now or the costs will go up, there aren’t any extra dollars in the city budget and sales tax is the most fair way.
I vote yes to fix city streets without raising the sales tax.
If the sales tax measure does not pass, the city council will likely be forced to raise the mill levy - which could means hundreds more dollars a year for every property owner in the city. In that case, people who don’t live in the city, but still use our streets, will be getting a free ride! The sales tax is the fairest way to spread the cost to everyone who uses our streets. People from out of town will help Topeka raise 40% of the funds!
Kristin how do you propose to pay to fix the streets. Some people think the city has all sorts of dollars available. A study 3 years ago said that 75% of our streets need repair. Just to scrape the top layer and put down asphalt to smooth the streets out will cost $60 million; that does nothing to fix those that are crumbling all the way through to the sand. And, it doesn’t include fixing the alleys, curbs and sidewalks. I guess the city could close TPAC but that would olny get about $140,000, or the city could quit funding Meals on Wheels and the other social agencies - that would get us about $1 million. Maybe we could take money from the utilities fund but there is only $400,000 in cash the rest is restricted to pay off the bonds that built our water and sewer facilities. We are not even close to the $60 million. The city could use dollars from the current 1cent sales tax but that is about the amount that funds our entire police department. Kristin I don’t know about you but I want a city with clean water and waste treatment. I want a city with a police department and I want a city that helps care for those less fortunate. And I even want a city that participates in culture, arts, and education. Those things are what make a city along with the infrastructure that is maintained so the people of the city can make a living and have a good quality of life. Kristin, I hope you think a little more about what you want. Nothing is for free and we need to fact the fact that the bad streets must be addressed. I am voting yes and I hope you do to.
to admin- I think you really evaded Bob’s question about why some specific streets listed on the map as needing repair, in fact, do not. Could you please address this? I do believe the city is strapped for money. I would like someone to tell me why. We pay a incredible amount of taxes and it seems the city is always just “getting by” or worse yet, as in the case of the streets, struggling to keep its head above water. We should be ashamed.
Susan, the maps were put together by engineers - Geographic Information Systems and Topeka Public Works. They are color-coded to show what kind of overlay the street needs, or if it needs preventative maintenance, or microsurfacing. Not every street in Topeka needs repair or maintenance, but most of them do.
Mayor Bill Bunten gives an excellent explanation of the city’s financial situation in this letter: http://www.fixtopekastreets.com/?p=168
We’ve lost funding from state sources and various tax revenues. It’s unfortunate that we’re in this situation, but it’s important to remember that this is our city, and these are our streets. No one else is going to fix them if we don’t do anything about it.