By now we're all aware that the 2 or more inches that fell on Brownsville the past two days not only made life miserable for all of us, but also belied the claims that our streets and infrastructure are up to the task.
We've poured millions in yearly budgets and bond issues to repair our streets. The Brownsville Public Utility Board just received $46 million for infrastructure repairs. It is hoped, administrators hedge, that all these millions won't end up in the city drains as they usually do, and that we get better roads, sewage service, and drainage as a result.
But ask local residents who have to replace their buckled tires, cracked windshields, broken mufflers and shocks, etc., after driving in Brownsville's pothole-pocked streets whether they believe this drivel.
Of course they don't. We have merely gotten tired of complaining and not getting anything in return for our troubles.
The photo that accompanies this post clearly indicates that a steady rain over a couple of days will produce this: storm runoff and sewer overflows on our city streets. And if you slow down a little, you can smell that it's not only water runoff that's in the overflow. With Brownsville's aging sewer lines cracked in innumerable places, you know what it it.
You'll drive over it, go home, and carry the stench and infection along.
Do your kids play b-ball on your driveway? Make sure you wash it after you leave and before they return from school. Does your toddler push himself/herself along on his walker there? Make doubly sure you wash the drive.
What many think is merely a problem for motorists suddenly turns into a public health issue as the sewer and storm runoff overflow work their way into our neighborhoods and homes. How much longer can we live like this? If it were summer, the smell would attract flies and other pests. It's a small consolation that the cold keeps the flies at bay.
But let's face it. The potential for infection and disease will remain as long as we don't fix this problem.
No comments:
Post a Comment