Pothole problem perplexes population

Roads don't last forever. I've lived in Mt Home for over 16 years and, other than new construction, I don't recall having ever seen a residential street being stripped, graded and resurfaced. In that same time the downtown area has been resurfaced twice and Airbase Road at least that many times.

My taxes went up again this year. I'm taxed for a golf course that I don't use. I'm taxed for schools and I've never had children. Taxed for a recreation center that, if it is ever built, I won't use. I do, however, drive on the roads; most of which are a roller coaster ride at best and a mine field at worst. Scabbing patches on our roads might get you by, but for me, they will not get you re-elected.

This part of the population is perplexed when they see that same areas repaired year after year and nothing done to discover the underlying cause. Longest fix is to dig down and find out why that area keeps failing year after year. What has been done? Many places I have seen filled with dirt, in the middle of an asphalt road and others I just keep seeing cold mix put in over and over. Where is the maintenance in that? It is like putting a band-aide on a huge cut that needs stiches.

These band-aids they are putting on the roads are horrible, they pop right back out. I hit a huge pothole in the dark and darn near wrecked my car. Patch up jobs only go so far.

One of the problems is that you can't just patch up an area that sank. the reason it sank is because of poor compaction underneath the asphalt. They need to tear the whole road up an properly lay down a road base so there isn't settling in the future. Proper compaction is key for roads lasting as long as possible. Another poor problem with the streets in mountain home is the drains. I don't know how many streets I drive on after it rains and there is collections of water in gutters on the side of the roads and everywhere else. If water is not properly drained its just going to work its way underneath the asphalt and cause it to settle and thats another reason why there is sink holes. Mountain Home officials need to look at the big picture, and not just expect that a little patch job is going to last a life time.

Nothing says more about a city than its' infrastructure.

Mountain Home gets an "F" in maintaining its' infrastructure.

It looks like the city spending priorities are tied to special interest groups.

If the city council and the mayor can't get their priorities straight then maybe a clean slate in City Hall is in order.

One last thought, maybe some of the money spent over the years on the large heavy equipment would have been better spent to upgrade both the roads and the drainage.

The roads in Mountain Home are the worst I have seen. I have been to third world countries with better roads and I just wonder why our tax money is not being used to fix this problem. I myself and someone else I know have bent a rim caused by the pot holes in town.

Another problem is the drainage system. I have noticed all over in town spots in the road that divet down across the width of the road that I guess were put there for "drainage" but all they do is make some cars (no sympathy for those who have their cars lowered) to bottom out making those who scrape have to choose a different route to avoid it. The positive outlook on all this I guess would be that Les Schwab gets more buisness out of it.