STREET PLANS NEED IDEAS FROM CITY RESIDENTS

Only a handful of residents have turned out for hearings so far on plans to spend $20 million on street projects over the next five years. There are only two public hearings left: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, and 7 p.m. Thursday at Red Star Baptist Church, 1301 N. Main.

In its first five years, the city's Transportation Trust Fund has produced major street improvements that generally have been regarded as both needed and beneficial. The improvements are funded by a half-cent sales tax which expires at the end of this year.

The Planning & Zoning Commission already has identified another $20 million the amount a five-year extension of the sales tax is estimated to produce of needed projects for the next five years. The City Council must act by May to put the sales-tax extension issue on the August ballot.

Even with another $20 million to spend, there are even more projects that need to be done. The P&Z Commission estimates the cost of those additional projects not on the five-year list at more than $12 million. Clearly, choices must be made to ensure that the street work needed the most gets done first.

City officials aren't concerned so few residents are going to the hearings being held by Vision 2000, an organization that works for community improvements. Some point to a high satisfaction rate with street work that has been completed or is planned. Others point to the high level of trust that has been built up by fulfilling the overall plan for the last five years.

So maybe there really isn't any need to go to the hearings or to come up with other suggestions for street work. The city has done a good job, so there is every expectation that this fine program will continue to benefit residents.

One of the selling points of the first five-year program was the large number of specific street improvements identified block by block. But the original plan, as well as the proposals for the next five years, also included several general areas: paving, repairs (streets, curbs, gutters and sidewalks), new sidewalks and street lights. In the proposed plan, these unspecified street projects would cost $6.3 million. Another $11.4 million is for eight specific street projects, and nearly $3 million is earmarked for contingencies.

There is a reason a $6.3 million chunk of the plan for the next five years isn't specific. In any given year, no one will know what paving project is needed the most or which sidewalks need to be replaced until that year rolls around and conditions at that time can be assessed. But residents may live on streets that need work right now. Attending the hearings is one way to let the city know those streets should be considered for a high priority if the program is approved by voters.

For the first time, the proposed five-year plan addresses areas of the city that have insufficient street lighting. Up till now, the city has concentrated on repairing and replacing existing street lights. The new plan would move the city toward its goal of have a street light at least at every street intersection and at the end of every cul-de-sac. Which of those will be done first, if the sales-tax extension is approved? More than likely, it would be those suggested by residents at the hearings being held just for that purpose.

So, even if you are happy with the city's street program and you should be there are still good reasons to attend the hearings. This is the best way to let city officials know about some specific street needs from the perspective of the residents who will, through the half-cent sales tax, be paying the bill.

Without input from residents, city officials will pick the projects they feel need to be done first. If you don't show up at the hearings, it won't do much good to complain two or three years from now because your street hasn't received the attention you think it deserves.