Road repair schedule OK’d by city commissioners

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Key West City Engineer Jim Bouquet laid out the 2015 schedule for road repair to city commissioners recently, showing where $1 million worth of restoration will take place this year.

 

For such a small island, Key West has a lot of streets. And keeping those 65 miles of roads repaired has been particularly difficult over the past two years when Key West thoroughfares took a beating caused by traffic diversions during the North Roosevelt Boulevard construction project.

This year’s priority list of road repairs is based on the 2012 Key West Pavement Management Analysis Report, which prioritized city streets in need of repair. Including the $1 million allocated towards maintenance this year, the city has allocated approximately $2.309 million towards the annual program over the past three years.

 

But commissioners may want to up the budget ante going forward. Commissioner Teri Johnston suggested that instead of budgeting a flat $1 million each year, she would prefer that city engineers first come up with a list of streets needing repair and then determine the necessary budget.

 

“We’ve just budgeted $1 million and tried to take care of what a million dollars will take care of. We need to reverse that and identify the streets that are in critical need and budget the correct amount to take care of those streets,” Johnston said.

 

The following Key West roads are slated for repair this year:

Northside Drive (14th Street to Toppino Drive)

Reynolds Street (Von Phister Street to Atlantic Blvd.)

Simonton Street (Southard Street to Olivia Street)

White Street (Eaton Street to Truman Street)

12th Street (North End to Flagler Ave.)

Whitehead Street (Amelia Street to United Street)

Ann Street (Front Street to Caroline Street)

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