Write a commentThe past couple of years the City of Oswego has had quite the pothole situation and it had seemed to get worse and worse. The citizens of Oswego are now actively moving towards change through social media.
On May 31, Derrick Falcetti created the Facebook page “Pot Hole Repair Needed in Oswego NY.” Currently, the group has 631 likes and the page has had a lot of exposure from active people posting pictures of potholes around the city. Others have vented that our taxes are going up but no repairs have been made.
“I can feel the damage it is doing to my car,” Falcetti said, when describing the roads. “Some potholes you cannot avoid.” Falcetti said that he loves the City of Oswego and wants to see it restored.
Luckily, Oswego Public Works Department has already begun working on some of the roads. "The city repair trucks have been on West Seneca all day today" stated Victoria Usherwood Gailinas of iHeartOswego, located at 29 West Seneca St. "We are relieved. Most people were driving East on the West bound side of the road since this past spring."
Councilman and current candidate for Mayor Bill Barlow stated that he has seen the Facebook page and “Glad the public has demanded change.” When asked about repairs to State Route 104, Barlow had stated that the state is responsible for paving State Route 104, which unfortunately will not happen until 2016.
As far as the rest of the roads, Barlow said that “The Department of Public Works makes repairs as they see fit and as the public and councilors request.” Barlow admitted that “Patching should’ve started months ago.” However, the City of Oswego has just accepted a bid, roughly around $400,000 for some areas to be paved.
Barlow said that he believes that the purchasing process should be moved up sooner, “February or March so we are ready to pave earlier in the Spring.” Barlow believes that the solution is to better maintain the roads on a “Regular basis to keep up with the requests and repairs as they occur.”
The Facebook page that Falcetti has created can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pot-Hole-Repair-Needed-in-Oswego-NY/938518852871667.
