Welcome To Los Angeles, The Town Where They Fix Streets That Aren't Broken
There have been public works guys on part of the street I live on all this week. I thought maybe they were working on the sewers or the power (which goes out when the sky, no, not storms but sneezes lightly). (I'm from the Detroit suburbs, where the lights stay on most of the time, even when there's actual weather.)
They're repaving a stretch of street. I didn't think about this until my neighbor said something to me, but although the street wasn't newly paved -- and was probably paved last a few decades ago -- it's not a street that gets a ton of traffic, especially because it's one-way. And most important, it didn't need repaving. Not one pothole on it, that I can recall (and I take it with some frequency to get home, because I live just on the other side of the "one way" sign).
My neighborhood has gotten gentrified fast in the past five years. I'm wondering if the increasing presence of wealthy people in multi-million-dollar homes led to the upgrade -- when there are places in LA where my tiny car (a 2004 Honda Insight) could disappear into a pothole and never be seen again. (Pico Boulevard, for example, in West LA, where I'm pretty sure my car was damaged to the tune of a few hundred dollars in wheel misalignment.)
I could be wrong in my speculation, but with how short on money Los Angeles is, it's odd that the city is running around fixing things that aren't actually broken.
Hmmm, reminds me of a second hand story, Someone asked a road crew why they were repaving a road that had just been repaved (2 months earlier) Turned out the crew was paving the wrong road. But somewhere down the Bureaucratic line, Lark Ave had gotten changed to Lark Street on a work order. And it never crossed anyones mind to question, why they were doing it.
Joe J at July 17, 2014 1:54 PM
Amy,
This is totally due to gentrification and wealth. The city I lived in previously used to fix shit overnight, now the new city I'm in takes months.
Ppen at July 17, 2014 1:56 PM
The city I live in has divided itself into seven districts, and it paves one district each year.
So every street in the city gets repaved every seven years.
Makes for nice streets.
Marshall at July 17, 2014 3:07 PM
I've seen things like what Marshall said (it was proposed for our HOA sidewalks just to simplify things). I have also seen what Joe J said. It's also possible that there was some issue that wasn't apparent. If it was all cracked (called alligatoring, I think) then it could be fine to drive on but starting to have major structural problems in the base layer & repaving now could be strategic (the crew was available, might as well fix it before it gets to be a big problem).
Or, it could just be stupid.
Shannon M. Howell at July 17, 2014 4:52 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/17/welcome_to_los.html#comment-4854286">comment from Shannon M. HowellI'm sure not a paving expert but there are major, major potholes in many places in LA.
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2014 7:36 PM
So every street in the city gets repaved every seven years.
This does NOT happen in LA. Seriously, if I ever disappear, the first place people should look is in the potholes on Pico between, oh, Centinela and the Westside Pavilion.
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2014 8:44 PM
Could be an improvement district -- though you would probably know about that because you be taxed for it.
Better than what happened by where I used to work...the road was ripped up and repaved 4 times in 3 months. Each utility had to do it - couldn't seem to co-ordinate.
The Former Banker at July 17, 2014 10:06 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/17/welcome_to_los.html#comment-4854657">comment from The Former BankerIt's not. It's just part of my street.
Amy Alkon at July 17, 2014 10:25 PM
When I lived in St. Louis, there was a street with no obvious problems that was suddenly subject to "emergency paving." I thought maybe there was going to be utility work or something. The street was residential in an area with no driveways or garages, so it was all parking all the time and EVERYONE had to move their cars.
What did the city do? Dump a bunch of tar and pea-sized gravel on the street and smoosh it flat. It was a nightmare to drive on for a few weeks (lots of loose bits). But nobody knew why it was done and, if it was such an emergency, why it wasn't properly paved. This wasn't even what they do for potholes! I have wondered periodically what happened when they eventually went to properly pave it. I mean, they can't exactly jackhammer up the tar/gravel combo the same way they can asphalt.
Shannon M. Howell at July 18, 2014 4:47 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/07/17/welcome_to_los.html#comment-4855469">comment from Shannon M. HowellIt's so annoying. It's 5am, I'm up to write and the noise is already starting. Huge bulldozer parked in front of my house -- guy got here to move it at 5:15 am. Now down the block making metal on pavement sounds. Lovely.
Amy Alkon at July 18, 2014 5:20 AM
I suspect that fixing streets is less about fixing streets and more about transferring money from taxpayers to unions, contractors and politicians.
Ken R at July 18, 2014 7:55 AM
Ken R has got it exactly right. Even if there is no stuff to repair, the money has to keep flowing.
Here in Quebec, we're in the middle of a huge scandal. It was discovered (well, confirmed) that politicians and a set of mafia-controlled construction companies were exchanging contracts for contribution. Each bid was raised by 10%, 5% to cover the mafia "administration" and 5% to give to the party's coffers. And the work, of course, was crap, so they could start over as early as possible.
Heck, there's a street near my house that has been blocked by sewer works for the past year and a half. Stores and restaurants are dying as customers cannot go to them. We're talking about replacing a 500' stretch. There's talk of legal action against the city...
V-Man at July 18, 2014 8:10 AM
The foreman of the construction crew might know. Or the city infrastructure/road dept.
Jason S. at July 18, 2014 11:22 AM
Public works projects are all part of the public record. Surely someone who found her own stolen car could find out what the local Public Works people are doing.
"(Pico Boulevard, for example, in West LA, where I'm pretty sure my car was damaged to the tune of a few hundred dollars in wheel misalignment.)"
If you had bought that secondhand Buick I recommended, this would not have happened...
Radwaste at July 20, 2014 4:52 PM
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