WHO NEEDS AN OBSTACLE COURSE?
The Reston Association has a decent sized budget for what they categorize as maintenance and environmental management. Obviously the folks running the RA would like more resources, while many of us Restonians would like to keep such costs under control.
Anyhow, the last time I looked, the maintenance and environmental budget was about $3.9M out of a total budget of $15.4M. Of that $3.9M, $0.9M was earmarked for pathways. As I recall, Reston claims to maintain 55 miles of pathways. I'm guessing that includes sidewalks ... If so, then that breaks down to a budget of $16K per mile. Obviously it just takes one or two major repair jobs to consume that kind of money, so I'm in no position to judge whether they budget too much, or too little in this area.
What I can tell you is none of that budget seems to be going to maintain this part of the path/sidewalk network. The photo shows a section of the pathway along Wiehle Boulevard. Walking on the path you'd be hard pressed to know if was recently rebuilt. As you can see from the photo (sorry for the lousy quality), this segment of the sidewalk is literally covered in debris, apparently washed down by recent storms. Maybe it isn't a complete and outright hazard area, but it sure is a mess. I'd add the hillside bordering the sidewalk is basically a disaster zone,full of trash and way to many downed trees that have been cut up and tossed in the underbrush. Does that constitute some sort of environmental remediation program ?
How about spreading a little of that $0.9M here? If not, got any Boy Scout, or Girl Scout Troops out there looking for a merit badge ?
Anyhow, the last time I looked, the maintenance and environmental budget was about $3.9M out of a total budget of $15.4M. Of that $3.9M, $0.9M was earmarked for pathways. As I recall, Reston claims to maintain 55 miles of pathways. I'm guessing that includes sidewalks ... If so, then that breaks down to a budget of $16K per mile. Obviously it just takes one or two major repair jobs to consume that kind of money, so I'm in no position to judge whether they budget too much, or too little in this area.
What I can tell you is none of that budget seems to be going to maintain this part of the path/sidewalk network. The photo shows a section of the pathway along Wiehle Boulevard. Walking on the path you'd be hard pressed to know if was recently rebuilt. As you can see from the photo (sorry for the lousy quality), this segment of the sidewalk is literally covered in debris, apparently washed down by recent storms. Maybe it isn't a complete and outright hazard area, but it sure is a mess. I'd add the hillside bordering the sidewalk is basically a disaster zone,full of trash and way to many downed trees that have been cut up and tossed in the underbrush. Does that constitute some sort of environmental remediation program ?
How about spreading a little of that $0.9M here? If not, got any Boy Scout, or Girl Scout Troops out there looking for a merit badge ?
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