11/08/2007

TxDOT Paves a Simple 2 Lane Road Correctly - the Second Time Around.

After nearly 1 year of community pressure, and wasting money to do the job twice, TxDOT finally properly resealed a 2 lane highway in SW Central Texas.

TxDOT tried to repave FM 1826 from Driftwood to Oak Hill with an unacceptable, unsafe and unprofessional “cold mix” that made the road worse than before the reseal. The tar and rocks made a ton of noise, messed up your car with tar, and would make your car slide if you had to stop fast. Trust me I drove on that mess a few times.

TxDOT claimed they did the reseal job the first time for safety reasons. WORD OF NOTE, WHEN AN AGENCY OR A POLITICO USES THE WORD "SAFETY", it should raise a red flag that they are coming after your money, and and they have something in mind that has safety problems.

No thanks to that lying snake Rep. Patrick Rose, who tried to claim the victory, the job got done right. Special thanks to Dr. Peter Stern for helping the community to keep the pressure on via his blog as he called the cold mix a "
an obvious con job by TxDOT".


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please see article on this issue written in the Oak Hill Gazette:

http://www.oakhillgazette.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=73&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=959&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1846&hn=oakhillgazette&he=.net


My response to the current job on FM 1826 and the article was sent to Hays and Travis Commissioners, legislators, local editors and FM 1826 neighbors. Here it is:

Sorry, but the issue still remains that Hays and Travis county residents were charged twice for a simple reseal job. TxDOT must be held accountable and the money to pay for a 2nd repair should come from the contractor. TxDOT IRRESPONSIBLY signed-off on the contractor's work quickly so that it could say "What was done is done." At the end of the December meeting at the Capitol, I asked TxDOT's Bob Daigh why the agency didn't file a claim against the contractor's bond. Daigh stated emphatically, "Because it won't!" I responded, "Why not?" Answered Daigh, "Because I said so!"

I strongly recommend (as I have since last December) that Hays and Travis County Commissioners should file a formal complaint against TxDOT with the Senate Committee on Transportation to try to recover all or part of the tax dollars for the 2nd repair work!!!

The 2nd issue is that of paving the right of way in front of the home driveways of owners who need paving! It is NOT the responsibility of the homeowners to pave that small section of roadway, in this case, it is the responsibility of TxDOT because it is a state roadway! Whether TxDOT sees it that way or not, repaving the right of ways is part of the reseal job on FM 1826!

Please act on these two issues. I look forward to an responsible and intelligent response to this request re: the 2 issues.

Respectfully yours,


Peter Stern
Driftwood

Anonymous said...

"At the end of the December meeting at the Capitol, I asked TxDOT's Bob Daigh why the agency didn't file a claim against the contractor's bond. Daigh stated emphatically, "Because it won't!" I responded, "Why not?" Answered Daigh, "Because I said so!"


I think Mr. Daigh is a perfect example of what TxDOT has come to be, a bloated corrupt bureaucracy totally calloused to logical and reasonable petitions of the people they are supposed to be serving.

When I refer to TxDOT, I am not referring to a state agency in the abstract, but rather I refer to all those PEOPLe, people with names, who are TxDOT's shills and propagandists and are rewarded for being everything a public servant is NOT to be.

I may compile a list of names and pictures of the outrageous performances by some of TxDOT's "stars" toward we the people in public settings over the last few years.

When I think TxDOT, I think of a Texas state agency that has gone about as low as it can go. The people there and their actions are consistently against the interests of the people who are paying their bloated salaries. Those disgusting bureaucrats seem to be totally "above" explaining themselves or being accountable, or even being nominally courteous and civil.

TxDOT as it is today also is a reflection of a totally dysfunctional Texas legislature (and governor) who failed in their duty to keep that agency operating within the laws of the state of Texas.