Looking around the old alfalfa patch north of Braun’s, I see beautiful concrete streets running north, south, east and west with curbs and gutters and not much traffic. Not many street signs either, come to think of it. Not many buildings along those pretty streets either now that I take a closer look — one here and there but nothing to brag about.
Some streets are blocked off so you can’t drive on them and some are just not finished.
Then I look to the west, north of Peace Lutheran Church where the new school’s going up. More new streets with curbs and gutters and actual street signs with names and number on them — how lucky! Nice smooth asphalt streets. Wow!
Now let’s look at 40th Street. What a mess. No asphalt, no gutters, no curbs, just a sign or two.
It's rough as a cob with a sprinkling of crushed asphalt for dust control. Some places on the street is even lower than the ditch which makes it interesting when it does rain.
This is not a new street. It has been on the map for quite some time. Now it’s going to have some of these beautiful new streets connect to it in one way or another and nobody will improve it. The question is jurisdiction.
The city doesn’t want to upgrade because the county has some control over one end and part of another or some such nonsense. I kind of think it’s time to put on your grown-up pants and sit down and discuss how to make a street out of this Jeep trail.
There is actual traffic on 40th all day long bouncing along while the concrete streets remain empty. Fortieth has turned into a major thorough fare and should be upgraded.
Calls to City Hall don’t shed much light on plans. One question that was posed to me was, “who’s got jurisdiction?” If you’re asking me then the answer is, “You do, you annexed it.”
There now, that’s settled so go ahead and get to work.
Jim Anderson, Dickinson
Tags: opinion, letter, letters, dickinson
More from around the web
RSS Feeds