Don’t wait for state to fix La Crosse Street

Mayor Tim Kabat is right. La Crosse Street needs to be fixed now. Kabat is proposing fixing the pothole filled road and having local taxpayers pay for it, then sending the bill to the state. Because La Crosse Street is also a state highway, it is the state Department of Transportation’s responsibility to fix it, and to pay for it. But the DOT doesn’t have any plans to fix La Crosse Street until 2025. Can you imagine what kind of shape that road would be in by then? Kabat is taking a chance that the DOT would ever reimburse the city for the millions in repairs needed for La Crosse Street, and its possible local taxpayers could end up footing the bill. But local taxpayers are already paying to fix that road with city crews doing occasional patching work on that road, but those patches are no longer holding. We are simply throwing money into the potholes but seeing those potholes return the next day. At least if the city pays to totally redo the road, it would be a much more permanent fix, and a better use of our tax dollars. That is a better idea than another temporary fix, or waiting another seven years for the state to finally fix the road. It may end up costing us, but given the condition of the road, that would be money well spent.