What happened to our streets? (A Friday morning walk through town)

By -
Recent excavation on our streets has left an ugly assortment of patches, seams, and steel plates. Although some of the work has been completed, excavating is still going on. UGI and its subcontractors, and the Columbia Water Company are the worst offenders. Over the past few weeks, some areas of town were virtually impassable due to lack of planning and overlapping projects. At this point, it's unclear if flowable fill has been used after excavation. It's also unclear who will repave the streets once all projects are finished, or if anyone in the borough is overseeing any of this. 

Following are a few of the streets we saw this morning.


North 5th Street near Walnut

The 500 block of Walnut

The 200 block of South 8th Street

On Wright Street looking towards South 8th

Along South 9th Street

South 9th Street

South 9th Street

South 9th and Mifflin

South 9th

South 9th Street and Ridge Avenue

South 9th

800 block of Locust

800 block of Chestnut

800 block of Chestnut

Comments

Anonymous said…
all of the streets in this town are a mess its hard to get around this town
August 18, 2018 at 4:55 AM
Anonymous said…
WHERE ARE THE CODES GUYS ? THEY SHOULD BE THERE TELLING THEM IF IT IS NOT ACCEPITABLE.
August 18, 2018 at 9:18 AM
Anonymous said…
This is why we pay such HIGH TAXES, to get the streets torn up and never get them RE-PAVED. Thank you Mayor Lutz and BORO Council members we we like driving on TORN up streets.
August 18, 2018 at 9:33 AM
Radical rag said…
Flowable fill, is a joke anyway, everyone one wants walnut street, and other streets fixed, so this is part of it, lowering gas mains, water mains etc, the streets have been neglected for years, now to make them right things need to be changed its called road construction...
August 18, 2018 at 11:19 AM
Anonymous said…
Actually, it's even worse. There are many other streets that are torn up too. How do residents find out what roads are being closed on what date? The equipment sits overnight and even over weekends taking up parking. A miserable mess. Don't utility companies have a responsibility to talk with municipalities before wrecking the town?
August 18, 2018 at 11:33 AM
Anonymous said…
Excuse me, you said that the streets have been neglected for years? WHY?
With what we pay in taxes, nothing should have been neglected.
August 18, 2018 at 1:42 PM
Anonymous said…
What with all the WEEDS growing on the Streets, Sidewalks and some houses why doesn't the Mayor and Code Enforcement Officers get out and walk the Streets and Alleys and issue tickets to the offenders. Lets just change the name from Columbia to WEEDVILLE which describes just what the town is, {WEEDVILLE}.
August 18, 2018 at 7:27 PM
Anonymous said…
VERY TRUE
August 19, 2018 at 9:21 AM
Radical rag said…
Columbia streets are alot better today then they were 5 years ago, since the boro baught the paving equipment, the borough has to follow guidelines on how, much they can do before they have to contract jobs out!!jake graham does one hell of a job on street repairs, and snow removal, and getting his guys moving,
August 19, 2018 at 9:22 AM
Anonymous said…
most weeds are the borough problem, but employees are to tied up at the money pit to do any thing about them.
August 19, 2018 at 10:37 AM
Anonymous said…
While they look for weeds they need to look for permits.
August 19, 2018 at 11:13 AM
Jane said…
Go old fashioned ,walk, bicycle,
August 19, 2018 at 12:57 PM
Anonymous said…
NO NO NO NO They (BOROUGH) just in spring that 75 percent of our streets are in good shape , how did we fall to the mess we have now ?
August 20, 2018 at 9:30 AM
Anonymous said…
Way can't they fix the hole at 322 s 2nd street , pics were on the spy last year and the hole is worse , guess there be a sink hole next.
August 20, 2018 at 9:36 AM
Anonymous said…
I agree, why hasn't the borough street at 322 South Second Street been fixed? Plenty of blacktop to do cut-outs along Heritage Drive, but not enough to fix a blatant problem on South Second. It's the street, fix it. Everyone in this town is paying taxes one way or another. Taxes are, in part, used to repair the streets.

August 21, 2018 at 6:19 AM
Anonymous said…
The borough is open to a big lawsuit for this one , plenty of pics around, NO EXCUSSES.
August 21, 2018 at 8:43 AM
Anonymous said…
So Jane, are you suggesting that I park my car on the outskirts of town and walk or ride my bike the "old-fashioned way" through town to get to and from my vehicle in order to go to work?
Some people in this borough will make any excuse they can to legitimize or ignore the shortcomings of those in charge of borough operations.
August 21, 2018 at 4:19 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]

By Columbia Spy -
Image
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
Read more

East Donegal man charged in Columbia hit & run

By Columbia Spy -
Image
NATHAN WILLISON | LNP Staff Writer An East Donegal Township man is facing criminal charges after police say he struck a 13-year-old with his truck and fled the scene last month.  Derek Scott Mohr, 28, is charged with causing an accident involving death or injury without a license, failing to stop to render aid, driving at an unsafe speed and related charges.  Mohr had been driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado through Chestnut Street in Columbia around 8 p.m. March 20 when he struck a 13-year-old boy riding a motorized scooter and continued driving, according to charging documents filed by police.  When police arrived, they found the boy with a broken leg and a cut to his forehead. His scooter was lying nearby, its handlebars completely snapped off.  Another teenager who witnessed what happened described the truck to police and said that the driver made no attempt to stop after striking the boy. Surveillance footage collected from the area shows the truck striking the b...
Read more

Mayor Lutz must accept responsibility

By Columbia Spy -
Image
  GUEST COMMENTARY [Name withheld by request out of fear of retaliation] For two decades, Leo Lutz has occupied the mayor's office in Columbia, and his supporters are quick to credit him with every positive development in our borough, but leadership is a two-way street. If Mayor Lutz is going to accept praise for Columbia's successes, many of which, frankly, he had little direct involvement in, then he must also be held accountable for our failures. The facts paint a troubling picture. Despite the mayor's repeated assurances that our streets are safe, we've witnessed a disturbing rise in assaults, shootings, and vandalism. His promises have fallen by the wayside: the foot patrol we were promised never materialized, nor did the bike patrol that was supposed to increase our sense of security. Fiscally, the situation is equally dire. Taxes have increased at least twice during Mayor Lutz's tenure, yet the borough now finds itself millions of dollars in debt. This isn...
Read more