While I was looking at Periwinkle Creek near Queen Avenue and Geary Street Monday afternoon, the Albany City Council heard of the tentative schedule for starting a new street maintenance fee and possibly a local gas tax as well.
Albany residents and property owners might want to get ready for the idea of paying a monthly fee for better maintenance of local streets.
Every once in a while, bumping along the broken pavement and potholed streets of old Albany on my bike, I wonder why the people living there or driving on these streets are not complaining?
There’s a good chance the Albany City Council will ask voters in 2020 to approve a bond issue to pay for reconstructing half a dozen streets including Albany Avenue. Voters might also be asked to decide on an extra monthly utility fee to pay for street maintenance and repairs.
[youtube video=”r2l_p-XQfoU” rel=”0″] Bouncing along one of central Albany’s old residential streets, especially on a bike like in the video here, makes you wonder if the city will ever have the means to make repairs, now decades overdue. Monday’s council work session does not signal a solution any time soon.
Getting streets maintained and pavement repaired is always an issue in Albany, but not any more on two streets in a leafy neighborhood at the southwest edge of town.
Where a city fuel tax would be sweet
Like Albany, the City of Millersburg is considering a local fuel tax to help pay for street maintenance. But in Millersburg, most of the revenue would come from people who live some place else.
Tags: city fuel tax, Love's Travel stop, Millersburg, street maintenance