CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A record $136 million is going towards repaving Corpus Christi streets, leaving some councilmembers wondering why streets cannot be paved annually.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni told 3NEWS that the 2022 Street program has about a 75 percent completion rate so far.
He wants that work completed by the city's fiscal year which starts every October.
"When the fiscal year begins, we start that fiscal years work. Our fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. We don't want to be continuing the work from prior years," he said.
Over the past three years, the city has poured in some $336 million into its streets. This fiscal year it's put in the record amount of $136 million to work on our asphalt challenged roadways.
"This year alone we have over $100 million that is going to be allocated to streets," said Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo. "The council and this mayor knows, and we continue to know, that streets is a number one priority."
Zanoni said that at the end of the day, everything boils down to manpower.
"I think right now where we're at, that 130 to 150 is pretty much the saturation point," he said. "Even if we had double that amount, our crews and our contract crews because of the labor market out there, won't be able to do the work anyway."
Zanoni said the city did a pavement condition index that shows that Corpus Christi streets are now rated just below, or the same, as a number of other cities from around the state. He believes those numbers are only going to get better in the coming years as the city plans on continuing to make streets the number one priority.
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