City Projects Unleashed
Staff editorial

Has anyone ever been seen working on the Crown Valley road-widening project?

It was reported that someone actually saw a worker last week. Or was it last month? But the sighting was not a productive crewmember, of course. Otherwise, why would this project have dragged on so long past the original projected completion date?

Prior rumors about the ever-continuing project mentioned worker sightings. However, the workers were actually contractors for the hospital, which managed the complete construction of a five-story parking structure and related five-story building while the city only has completed a small percentage of its own road-widening project.

As "real time" developers know, delays run up enormous costs over the original budget and are to be avoided, which the hospital clearly has done. But the city, which manages its own construction projects, has no apparent urgency to complete the Crown Valley project. City hall is undaunted by cost overruns from poor management or the never-ending traffic tie-ups inflicted on commuters.

No one knows what happened to the original road construction sign with the proposed completion date on it. Likely, it simply rotted out over the many months of delays. So, who's to ask the new date of completion? There’s no clear indication of when, and that seems to suit the city manager just fine. As an aside, the city manager was promoted without actual city manager experience, and it’s ironic he was in charge of public works prior to becoming city manager. Under his helm today, the expected Crown Valley, Oso and La Paz street improvements will likely stay in the "expected" category, perhaps for decades to come.

As another anticipated city endeavor, the projected cost of the proposed dog park rises and doubles each time the topic is discussed. Perhaps the projected cost is based on the inevitable cost overruns on just about every project the city takes on. Let costs run free as dogs in a dog park in a city that has no leash on its staff. One notable cost-savings suggestion on the dog park is to let the grading of the lot be done by the dogs themselves. Over the years, they can grade and level the park as they try to uncover certain buried bones of past management.