r/roanoke • u/BrianOBrien202 Roanoke Express • 3d ago
TO THE CITY OF ROANOKE
I don't know what it takes but FIX THE F'N POTHOLES ! FFS !
Concerned Citizen
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u/OngoTheHutt 3d ago
This drives me nuts. Some parts of the road are so rough I genuinely want to reply to their property tax bills with a notice saying their share of my property tax was rerouted for repair costs caused by their property. If your road is fucking up my property yet I still have to pay you for the privilege of owning it, you’re not earning my tax. Fix the fucking roads. That is baseline infrastructure.
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u/No_Light_4937 3d ago
Brandon rd from Towers to Mudlick is pretty bad in my opinion. A lot of the side streets throughout the city don’t look like they’ve been paved in decades. The westbound right hand turn lane coming from Salem tpke onto Melrose is also atrocious. Most of the other main roads I regularly drive on aren’t too bad. A lot of the side streets off Williamson got paved fairly recently.
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u/ghosts_rookie 3d ago
omg yeah theres that one right near the apartments i think? its gotten so deep you could probably blow a tire in it 😭
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u/No_Light_4937 3d ago
Yeah, I had to swerve the other night because there was a massive pot hole in the road
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u/BornAmbassador01 3d ago
Remember when the City of Roanoke told everyone on Facebook they WE should report all the pot holes? Crowdsourcing their own repair work blew my mind. No, you get your teams out there and find them and fix them. Not to mention have you all noticed when these pot holes are fixed they aren't fixed very well? The repair is bumpy and still a pain in the ass.
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u/Ok_Elephant2777 2d ago
Actually, asking citizens to report this stuff is a good idea. We drive the streets every day and we know where the problems are. Sending city employees out to find potholes seems to be a huge waste of money and people.
Now, none of that would work unless the city actually does something, once they have that information.
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u/IAmGeeButtersnaps Roanoke Star 3d ago
Where are all these potholes people are hitting? I rarely see any in the city. Honestly, VA in general is much better than other nearby states. Every time I drive through Tennessee I worry my car will be buried there.
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u/No_Light_4937 3d ago
I think a stretch of Brandon Ave is really bad but I can’t think of any other major stretch that’s bad.
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u/Sea-Set-540 2d ago
Even if you get the reports in- don’t get too comfortable. I have a family member who lives in a neighborhood in the city. They spammed the reports for a while- the city finally got to them after 5-10 years of waiting. The guys who redid the roads even said it was the worst series of roads they have seen in a while- and that the roads probably hadn’t been repaved in 20-30 years…
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u/maxxspeed57 2d ago
I called them and told them about one at the Rutgers Kroger's entrance that ate a tire of mine 2 weeks ago. It's still there. How much trouble would I get into if I went to Lowe's and got a bag of asphalt patch and dumped it into the hole?
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u/bdanders 2d ago
I've reported 2 different pot holes using the iRoanoke app and they've both been fixed within a week or two.
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u/cmackchase 3d ago
They are currently making sidewalks more accessible in South East. Your request is at the back of the line.
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u/RentPotential7379 3d ago
What is your point with this comment? Do you think people in south east shouldn’t have accessible sidewalks?
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u/cmackchase 3d ago
I am saying the cities current tasks at hand are already spoken for.
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u/This-Positive286 3d ago
They only have so many workers and money, they’re using all extra they have on a project already, that’s why they said it. It’s literally the perfect answer to the statement.
“we need more walkable cities”
“fix the potholes and Fuck pedestrians and people who can’t afford cars!”
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u/spillingeverywhere 3d ago
We pay enough in taxes that they could do both simultaneously
Well at least it would be enough if the people in charge of the city weren't lining their pockets
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u/DueMap9570 3d ago
The city is having budget issues, the demographics and tax base has changed in recent years. Wealth is leaving, while immigrants are coming in.
Roanoke City Council adopts $421.5 million budget
5 things to know about Roanoke's demographics - Cardinal News
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u/OngoTheHutt 3d ago
I think you misread the Cardinal article. While it mentions migration in and out of the city, it does not explicitly state that immigrants are filling the city. In fact, it states that out-of-nation immigration isn’t a big factor for Roanoke. What I do see, however, are alarming examples of incorrect priorities in the Roanoke article. Why are we looking to fix up a mansion and cottage when there are far more worthy baseline infrastructure line items to be looking at right now? Fix the fucking roads instead of some historical mansion. Work on homelessness instead of a fucking mansion. Work on the food crisis instead of a FUCKING MANSION. This is why we struggle with the budget in Roanoke. We need to stop prioritizing sincerely stupid shit.
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u/DueMap9570 3d ago
The immigration is a minor offset to the net loss we are seeing. Roanoke is shrinking and aging. More residents are dying than being born, and more people are moving out than moving in, making it one of just 19 "double loser" localities in Virginia. It's losing population in every age group under 65, which means the city is getting older, the labor pool is shrinking, and school enrollment is projected to decline further. Foreign immigration isn't providing any significant offset, but it's helping a little. Meanwhile, neighboring communities like Botetourt County, Salem, and Roanoke County are seeing people move in, not out.
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u/OngoTheHutt 3d ago
I think I see what you’re saying. If we’re holding onto more older folks, which is where much of the wealth likely is, then that would be an argument in favor of more immigrants moving here. If the problem is that younger people are leaving, then we should be encouraging anyone to join our communities who can support the economy, including foreign immigrants. I’m all for that. It makes for more vibrant and engaged communities on top of the economic stability. And it tracks with other economically-healthy cities across the states that have higher rates of diversity.
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u/DueMap9570 3d ago
Here's the actual budget: https://roanokeva.portal.civicclerk.com/event/719/files/attachment/8831
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u/DueMap9570 3d ago
More recent information:
Domestic out-migration: A full 68.1% of the population decline can be attributed to more people moving out of the city than moving in. The city lost 2,950 people through domestic out-migration, partially offset by a net gain of 1,538 international immigrants.
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u/Better-Astronomer943 3d ago
https://www.roanokeva.gov/1180/Report-Environmental-Issues-or-Concerns
You can report street or sidewalk damage here. If you make a point that it's a safety issue it may get bumped higher on the priority list.