Streets are a joke

Last week we saw a man in a motorized wheelchair crossing Division at Cozza Drive. He was trying to get from the street back onto the curb at the northeast corner of the intersection but was fighting the maze of potholes at that corner. Watching his wheelchair bounce back and forth through the potholes was concerning as it appeared as the chair could tip over. Fortunately, he made it through.

But what if he had tipped over? Our streets are a joke, and I don’t understand why. Before retiring, my position required travel and some of it was to Denver and Salt Lake. I don’t remember Denver’s street being anywhere nearly as bad as Spokane’s. We aren’t the only city with snow and freezing weather, but I wonder where we would rank among cities that must deal with potholes. Probably near the bottom.

The city can find the money to remodel Riverfront Park, beautify Monroe Street north of Indiana (even though a majority of merchants don’t seem to want it), pay settlements for lawsuits and give upper management a raise, but they can’t fix the streets.

Jim Boggs

Spokane