• David Tewes •
• Originally published July 12, 2008 at 11:38 p.m., updated July 12, 2008 at 11:38 p.m.

Steve Fiedler and Charles Fisher own businesses just blocks from each other, but their opinions on the condition of Sam Houston Drive are miles apart.

“I haven’t been up and down evaluating it,” said Fiedler, who owns Acu-Tune garage. “But I’ve got no problems with it.”

Fisher, who owns Fisher Auto Sales, may wonder if he’s looking at the same street.

“I think Sam Houston overall is probably one of the top three worst streets in Victoria,” he said. “There are patches over patches.”

The city council and staff agree that Sam Houston, which may have been a street since 1824, needs repairs. And costly repairs at that.

The council earlier in the year looked at four options to rebuild the street between the Houston Highway and Laurent Street. That would be the first major repair Sam Houston has had since 1982.

The cost of those options ranged from $13 million for a rebuild that would last four to eight years to $35 million for a street that would last at least 40 years.

Public Works Director Lynn Short has proposed a $22.5 million compromise calling for the street to be paved with concrete. But because concrete paving is more expensive than asphalt, there would only be enough money to rebuild Sam Houston between Miori and Laurent streets.

“Then we won’t worry about the rest of it right now,” Short said. “We could come along later and consider rebuilding the rest.”

In a worst-case scenario, the project would take 18 months to finish and it wouldn’t begin until October 2011.

Fisher said the city in general has done a good job of repairing city streets. But Sam Houston is long overdue for repairs and needs immediate attention, he said.

“They’re not going to have a road left by 2011,” he said. “I had a customer going down Sam Houston after a rain last year and one of the holes was so bad it broke the rim and knocked the tire off the rim.”

Pharmacist Joe Trial at Castle Hills Pharmacy on Sam Houston Drive said the street is heavily traveled, but he doesn’t see a major problem with it.

“I don’t see that Sam Houston has deteriorated as badly as some other streets,” he said. “Just from the surface, it looks fine.”

He said the city might consider spending the money on a street that needs repairs.

But Council Member David Hagan, whose district includes Sam Houston Drive, said based on what the voters are telling him, most believe the street is badly in need of repairs.

“My constituents are telling me that it’s a major artery that really is unsuitable for driving,” he said. “They felt like it was embarrassing to take friends and family from out of town down the street. I’ve also heard complaints about it tearing up people’s cars.”

The sooner the project is completed, the better, he said.

Council Member Tom Halepaska, whose super district also includes Sam Houston, agreed.

“It’s one of the worst streets,” he said. “We’re trying to rebuild stuff that should have been done many, many years ago.”

The city is trying to pave as many streets as it can with concrete to reduce the long-term maintenance costs. The problem is the city has a list of $200 million in projects and only about $20 million a year to repair infrastructure, he said.

“It’s all about the money,” Halepaska said. “We only have so much per year that we can apply toward rebuilding projects.”

David Tewes is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6515 or dtewes@vicad.com.

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