Residents upset over lack of maintenance for stretch of McCombs Street
EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — People living in northeast El Paso near Chaparral said they’re fed up with the condition of a 1-mile stretch of road near their homes.
Neighbors said they feel neglected by the city after they’ve been complaining about a portion of McCombs Street for years.
"They've apparently forgotten about that section of the road. They paved all the way up to the intersection of Stan Roberts and then the state of New Mexico will pave all the way to the state line but that .8 miles of no man's land, they do no maintenance on it," said Chaparral resident Carl Wagner.
Before Stan Roberts Street, the road is the Texas Department of Transportation’s responsibility to maintain and repair.
But for years, they have been questions about who is responsible for McCombs Street from Stan Roberts Street to the state line.
Wagner said the road isn't just bad for cars, it can also be dangerous.
"I ride a motorcycle, and dodging and weaving the potholes is crazy," Wagner said.
Wagner said he spent months trying to find out who is supposed to be maintaining it and what's being done about it.
"I called El Paso and they said, 'We don't own it.' So I called El Paso County and they don't own it. I even called Hudspeth County and they don't own it," Wagner said. "I contacted the Texas Department of Transportation, and I got about three departments into it and I got voicemail three times, and on the fourth time finally I talked to a person."
CBS4 spoke with the city of El Paso and the county two years ago to determine who was responsible for the maintenance. Ultimately, it was determined that the city is responsible for maintenance on the road.
A spokesperson for the city said they have repaired the road from time to time in the past, but residents said these repairs are only bandages for a much bigger problem.
"The city of El Paso has not just dropped the ball here, they never picked up the ball," said Chaparral resident Joseph Compton. "Rather than do a total repair on it, they're putting Band-Aids on the situation and they're not even really get Band-Aids.”
Compton said he also got the runaround from the city, county and state. He said he is constantly confronting construction in downtown El Paso and the west side and doesn’t think it’s fair that the northeast is being left behind.
"All over town and they're redoing all of these other streets, and that stretch of McCombs they do nothing about," Compton said.
He said he doesn’t think the city is accounting for all the business the road bringsinto town.
"There are over 25,000 people in Chaparral, probably 99 percent of whom conduct all of their business in El Paso," Compton said.
Wagner said the pothole-riddled road could be bad for El Paso's economy.
"Everybody travels up and down that road, we're talking thousands of people a day minimum," Wagner said. "We spent almost all of our money in your city."
CBS4 reached out to the city for a comment. No one was available for an interview, but the city sent a statement reading in part, “Crews have visited that segment of McCombs nearly 40 times in the past 18 months to make repairs. The street Presently (sic), the street is not part of the streets currently funded for resurfacing treatment. Street resurfacing is a major street repair and costs are significantly higher than those incurred when filling potholes. To prioritize major street repairs, the City as part of its proposed FY 2018 budget is proposing a new pavement condition study.”
The city's Streets and Maintenance Department encourages the public to report potholes or request street repairs by calling
