SAN ANTONIO — Anthony Gomez has lived on Marchmont Lane for 20 years and has seen his street continually decline during that time. Initially, he didn't think much of it, but then Gomez noticed most of the other streets in his neighborhood had been repaved.
"You're driving down every other street around your block which has been repaved, it's annoying that yours's isn't," Gomez said.
Gomez said one of his neighbors started a petition to get their road repaved a few years ago, and he's called the City of San Antonio twice a year since 2020, but their street never seemed to make the cut.
"They say, 'yea, you have a repair on schedule,' but then there is no date for it. How does that happen?" Gomez said.
David Alcantar told KENS 5 he had also contacted the city about the street multiple times.
"Our vehicles, they get damaged suspension. We get nails in our tires. Water comes though here and it stays for two weeks. It just hangs around here," Alcantar said.
Alcantar later received an email which stated "The project is in the queue by Public Works, pending scheduling for the second quarter of 2024." He wasn't sure what "pending scheduling" meant but said Marchmont had been delayed on the city schedule before.
"We've been though that for many, many years," Alcantar said. "Hopefully there are funds for the project."
Finally, in February, Gomez called KENS 5.
KENS 5 contacted the San Antonio Public Works department several times and asked if there was a specific date to repave the street. Four days later San Antonio's Public works department confirmed it was on the books for April:
"Marchmont (from its dead end to Neer Ave) is scheduled to be repaved in April 2024, weather permitting. The date range would be April 1-30. This work would include rehabilitating the pavement with base repairs and a new surface," a San Antonio Public Works spokesman said.
The San Antonio Public Works Department could not give KENS 5 a specific answer on why the project took so long to get scheduled, though a spokeswoman did tell KENS Marchmont had deteriorated to the point that the city gave it an "F" rating.
The city explained, "The City’s Street maintenance program uses a two-pronged approach, a Preservation Program for those streets in Good to Excellent condition (A & B) and a rehabilitation Program for those that have begun to deteriorate or in failed state (C – F). Road Preservation can cost up to $178,000 per mile. Whereas, Road Rehabilitation can cost anywhere from $450,000 per mile to more than $2,000,000 per mile for a full reconstruction."
KENS 5 will be following up on Marchmont to check on the road's progress.
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