Residents who frequently travel DeKalb streets may find their trip a little less than pleasant.

Potholes, cracks and other street obstructions hinder certain parts of the DeKalb area, but the city of DeKalb engineering department as well as Re:New DeKalb are doing their part to maintain roads from further abuse.

Project implementation engineer Michael Bauling said many people help to maintain the roads in the city of DeKalb.

“Depending on if it is a private street or public street, the maintenance would fall to our street department,” Bauling said. “The engineering department is responsible for resurfacing and maintaining [the road].”

Bauling explained that roads are critiqued every three years on a numbered rating scale.

“We rate on a scale of 0-10, 0 being the best and 10 the worst,” Bauling. “We also have 10 items that we rate the street on including different types of cracks and potholes. [There is also] a rating for decay curve for paving.”

Bauling added that some roads have deteriorated more than others due to a lack of cash flow.
“The problem is dealing with funding,” Bauling said. “We can’t address every road in that method.”

Streets in the downtown DeKalb area, however, may soon get a facelift. Jennifer Groce, executive director of Re:New DeKalb, said improvements to the downtown are in the making.

“Re:New DeKalb is working with the city of DeKalb on a major streetscape program,” Groce said. “We just started [working] on Second and Third streets, and we’ll be working on them through the fall of this year.”

According to the official Re:New DeKalb blog, the Second and Third street projects will include improvements such as new lighting poles and fixtures, a replacement of curbs and sidewalk and a complete resurface of the roadways.

Since the stimulus package has arrived, more improvements can be made than originally anticipated.

“It always comes down to how much we have for funds,” Bauling said.

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