Loose gravel alert!

I’ve noticed in the past couple of days some signs of concern about loose gravel within the Amarillo city limits. The city’s street department is at it again, laying down that oil-soaked gravel base over perfectly good streets.

You know what I’m talking about. The crews put that stuff down and gravel gets kicked all over the place: gathering along curbs, being tossed onto sidewalks. We’ve lived at our current address for more than 16 years and the street department crews have laid down that, um, stuff twice in the past decade.

I’m still trying to figure out why they had to come by the first time, let alone the second time. The street didn’t have any potholes. It was smooth and quite drivable, actually.

Well, they’re at it again. I noticed the bright orange “Loose Gravel” signs along Coulter Street. I peered down a couple of streets east of the main drag and noticed the freshly laid oil-gravel. I also noticed that much of the gravel already had been tracked onto Coulter.

I mention this only to gripe out loud about the city’s street-paving policy. Don’t misunderstand: I appreciate that we have a decent street grid — for the most part. The city does a good job of maintaining the quality of the pavement. It patches up potholes fairly regularly.

That gravel, though, becomes a royal pain when it gets picked up by vehicle tires and it gets lodged inside the vehicle’s brakes, which has happened to me.

Get ready, Amarillo. More of it is on the way.