Paving the way

By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — Joe Capuana watched as a car roared down White Street in north Marquette, kicking up rocks and a thin layer of dust in its wake.


“People get into Dukes of Hazzard mode when they see the gravel streets,”


Capuana said.


Capuana has lived and owned rental housing on one of several gravel roads in north Marquette for about seven years.


Bernie Duquette, another resident from the neighborhood, stood next to Capuana as the car went by.


“Quite a few cars don’t even stop at these stop signs,” Duquette said. “They don’t even slow down because they see these gravel roads they think they got the right of way. They just zip right through there.”


The Marquette City Commission appropriated about $1.8 million in the fiscal year 2008-09 budget — which begins July 1 — to pave north Marquette’s gravel roads, according to City Engineer Keith Whittington.


However, the project will only move forward if at least 50 percent of the residents in the area agree to pay special assessments to help fund the project.


“I don’t see having paved roads as something ‘special’ but I would be willing to pay to improve my property,” Capuana said.


He said the gravel roads create several headaches, including noise from cars that hit potholes or bumps in the road and gravel flying up onto his property from passing vehicles.


The worst problem, Capuana said, is the dust.


“I’ve had barbecues depending on the direction of the wind,” he said. “People had to shut down and go inside because the dust can be overwhelming at times.”


The wet spring this year has helped keep the dust down, Capuana said, but in past years the dry streets create a “dust bowl.”


“We’ve been remodeling since we bought this place and after a dusty spring — after all our work — it looks like it’s a decade old,” he said.


Larry Lancour, who’s lived in the neighborhood for almost 70 years, said the potholes get so bad at times he’s filled them in himself. Although he wasn’t in favor of paying a special assessment, he said it is time something was done about the roads.


“You drive a vehicle, you can’t open the windows. You can’t sit on the back porch of your house, you can’t sit on the front porch,” he said. “People drive 40 miles an hour down here and there’s a cloud of dust right behind them. It’s a shame. It really is.”


Lancour said money to pave the streets was appropriated in the 1970s but it was instead used to help construct Hawley Street.


Marquette City Commission member Johnny DePetro said the gravel roads in north Marquette have been a pet peeve of his since before he got on the commission.


“It gets so bad you can’t even drive down those streets. Just craters from the snow melting every year and traffic turning. At times it’s rippled like a washboard,” he said. “It gets so dusty you can’t even sit on their deck and cook hamburgers or you can’t hang clothes outside because a couple cars go by and the dust just hangs there in the air.”


DePetro said Marquette’s bike path is in better shape than the streets.


Whittington said the project would not only involve paving but curbing, installing sidewalks, replacing some water laterals and extending the storm sewer. He said the streets involved would be White and Harlow  streets and Wilkinson Avenue.


However, Whittington said if over half the residents decline to pay the special assessments, the project won’t happen.


“We’re not starting anything until it goes through the special assessment process and all the information has been given to city hall,” Whittington said. “So it’s kind of out of my hands right now.”


Capuana said he hasn’t gotten any kind of notice from the city yet about the special assessments.


“We’re just afraid we’re going to get forgotten about again,” he said. “We’re just nervous it’s not going to happen. Nobody’s talking to us. No questionaires, or polls, or anything like that. It just feels like it’s dying.”





City Manager Judy Akkala said she is reviewing information about special assessments to determine the best way to proceed. She said she did not know when residents might be getting a notice.





According to Scott Cambensy, director of public works, the city spends a total of about $35,000 to $40,000 a year to maintain north Marquette’s gravel roads. He estimated the city spends about $14,000 a year for dust control, $8,000 a year for grading and $15,000 to $16,000 a year to replace gravel.


Cambensy said to control dust the city lays down liquid chloride twice a year, once in mid-June and once in late August.