Unpaved street more than bump in road for Dickinson residents

DICKINSON, TX (KTRK) -- Leslie Johnson can't believe the only road to her home looks like a picture of the 19th century, suitable for a horse and buggy.

"An ambulance couldn't come down here, a police officer couldn't, a fire truck couldn't come down here," said Johnson as she walked down the muddy road. "They'd get stuck."

For years, Desel Road was patched and repaired over and over again. Residents have long pushed for a rebuild of the road. This August, the City of Dickinson granted a contract to rebuild the dead end road. The asphalt was scraped up in October, but it's been a muddy mess since.

"We need to get this done in sections or something so the entire street isn't a disaster at the same time," said Terry Brass-Nash, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.

Dickinson's City Administrator Julie Robinson says delayed delivery lime that's needed as part of the road construction and recent rains did slow down activity for a few days. Overall, though, a three-month timeline is completely normal.

"Probably December, end of January to get the project completed," said Robinson.

Meanwhile, cars have gotten stuck, so has a garbage truck. The US Post Office also is not delivering mail during the duration of the construction.

"The post office doesn't want to get stuck on the road, so now we have to go to the post office to pick up our mail, says Johnson.

Robinson says the post office and other inconveniences are unavoidable. She points out that the road is a dead end, so there are no other alternatives for residents. In addition, the city is putting down concrete roads. Robinson says concrete roads take longer to build than asphalt.

"It's unfortunate, and inconvenient, and we understand how frustrating that could be, and we're trying to get that process moving as quickly as possible," she said.