Make driving smoother: Report roads needing fixes
From: Christopher Rutan
Columbus
Spring is finally here. More kids, parents and drivers are out due to the warm weather. It is only a few weeks to school is dismissed for this year, and safety needs to be the No. 1 priority for everyone.
As I wrote in my Feb. 27 letter to the editor, it is time to look at our infrastructure and see what repairs need to be made. After my last letter, there were a lot of broken/burned out streetlights reported that have now been repaired on the main roads and a few on secondary roads. However, our attention and focus must turn to our crumbling roads and specifically potholes.
I often hear the same old phrase, “I know of a problem but don’t know how to report it.” Every resident has the option to call the mayor’s office to make a complaint about an issue, but reaching the department directly responsible to resolve the issue will get a quicker response.
In the last administration, Mayor Kristen Brown and Columbus City Council authorized more than $7 million in road repairs. Those repairs were completed before winter. In the next few weeks, Mayor Jim Lienhoop will meet with officials to discuss how much money is in the budget and what road repairs are needed.
If you know of an aggravating pothole no matter how big or small that has opened up over the winter, please call the Department of Public Works at 812-376-2508 and make a report.
The staff of DPW will process the request and do a temporary “cold mix fill-in” until the hot mix is available. If we as residents do not report our findings to the proper department, then the situation cannot be fixed, therefore causing damage to someone’s vehicle.
We need everyone to report what they know, when they know it. All of the workers for the city of Columbus and Bartholomew County cannot be everywhere, all day and every day. It is up to us to protect and preserve our community. We are their eyes and ears.
