Note: This is the first of a four-part series of columns.
Happy New Year.
Each new year is an exciting opportunity for a fresh start, and new beginnings – beginnings achievable through setting goals, hard work and determination.
This is true for the City of Meridian.
Over the last 18 months, our city has made great strides toward making Meridian a stronger, more viable community. Much of this has been achieved by following one of my favorite sayings: “Plan the work, and work the plan.”
When I began my term as Meridian’s mayor in July 2021, I started surveying the status of city government and was able to identify areas that need upgrades and improvements.
Given that, I realize it is going to take strategic planning, time and effort to move forward. We are faced with a number of challenges. We’ve got to rebuild our police department and improve our infrastructure, as well as evaluate other opportunities of improvement to create and prepare our city for a brighter, safer future.
As we continue on that path, I would like to review what this administration has focused on and remained dedicated to over the last 18 months, specifically the following areas:
— Public Works
— Meridian Police Department
— Meridian Parks and Recreation
Public Works
Paving Meridian’s streets and taking pride in our city was a focus of our election campaign.
Since our first day in office and through today, the City has paved 20 miles of streets, and has announced paving at least 20 miles of streets this year. We believe every resident in the City of Meridian deserves streets that are paved and passable to get to work, school, or just around their neighborhood.
Paving work is accomplished by a combination of private contractors and an in-house City paving crew. Many of the smaller neighborhood streets are paved by City crews, while larger and more heavily traveled corridors are paved by private contractors. The major corridors paved in 2022 were Eighth Street, 45th Avenue, Highland Avenue, and 26th Street. Planned paving for 2023 include portions of major corridors such as 14th Street, 10th Avenue, 40th Street, 45th Street, 49th Avenue, 22nd Avenue, Popular Springs Drive, Newell Road, Old 8th Street Road, State Blvd., B Street, and the city’s Medical District.
In February 2021, the city’s Public Works Department received a Pavement Condition Assessment and Street Network Maintenance and Repair work plan which determined a budget of $6.9M in Year 1 of the plan. The Meridian City Council chose to not fund the work plan, opting instead to select streets to be repaved, and funded these efforts with bonds.
The Public Works Department completed a pavement condition assessment and developed an overall City paving strategy which requires City Council to fund a new standard of paving at least 30 miles a year, which is 10% of the City’s total streets.
Whether resurfacing more miles of roads or upgrading our aging water and sewer mains beneath them, we are making the essential investments to give our 21st century City a 21st century infrastructure and ensure a good quality of life for every citizen in the City of Meridian.
The second installment of this four-part series will run in next Saturday’s edition.
