11th Street: Bring it on!

A year ago this week we urged the city council to do 11th Street right the first time. Most Port Aransas residents and voters agreed with that sentiment and approved the full $6.4 million bond package to rebuild the heavily traveled street.

This week (actually last Friday), the work began and the first dirt was moved in preparation for the project.

The cost to taxpayers is going about $1.59 a week over a year’s time. Most of us spend much more than that each week on bread, soft drinks, beer, wine cigarettes, chewing gum – you get the picture.

Our commitment to maintaining our city’s infrastructure is a solid investment that is going to save money in the long run.

Just look at our neighbors in Corpus Christi. The streets there have deteriorated to the point that the cost for repairs and reconstruction is astronomical. Taking care of business as you go along, sharing in the cost to the tune of $1.59 a week, saves the heartache and financial stress that the taxpayers of Corpus Christi will suffer.

There was a time when the streets of Port Aransas were in deplorable condition. A Volkswagen Beetle could have been lost in one of our potholes. Dentures could be shaken loose just getting to the grocery store. Crossing the street was like playing hopscotch.

All that changed when leadership at city hall – a combination of elected and appointed officials – began a program of systematically rebuilding and repairing the streets. It’s an expensive proposition and it takes time. The job’s not over – it never will be. What is important is that the process is in place and progress continues to be made.

Port Aransas, though Paradise, is hell on streets, buildings and anything to which sand, salt and rust can find a place to call home. Maintenance is not optional. It’s expensive, but it’s less expensive than the alternative.

If anyone has questioned the wisdom of the city’s street program that has been funded by bonds that were approved by voters, you have only to look at our neighbors in Corpus Christi to see the grief we’ve been spared.

Speaking of grief, there certainly will be some grief to endure during the reconstruction of 11th Street. You just can’t get there from here without it. However, if precedent holds, residents of the streets that already have been rebuilt will tell you that Island Construction (the firm to which the bid to do the work was awarded) makes sure its crews do everything they can to accommodate residents.

Keep in mind it’s a big job that will span Spring Break and summer – there’s just no way around it given the size of the job.

Just keep your eye on the prize because this is a problem we want to have.

Mary Henkel Judson is editor and copublisher of the South Jetty. Contact her at southjetty@centurytel.net, (361) 749-5131 or P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.