A basketball hoop is pretty much unused at a cul de sac found at the end of Hermes Street in southwest San Diego. The reason? The street conditions could also be dangerous, according to the families who live here.
"He was walking to my house and he was about right in the middle of the street and he trips and falls down,” recalled Patrick Dasis of his 82-year-old father losing his footing as he walked on the street. “There’s been two occasions for my father, and then the gentleman who lives in this house, right in front of where he puts his trash can, he was getting his trash can and he slipped on the rocks."
Dasis said since 2006 he and some neighbors have reached out to the city complaining about the street’s condition. Some repairs have been made but he says they never hold and even the street sweeper has stopped coming through.
"It dumped all the dirt because it was clogging up the machine. And another thing is that we’ll get cars in here at night, they’ll do donuts and rocks will actually go up and hit the cars."
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Dasis said that the lack of response from the city and the continued deterioration of the street pushed the families to pool their money and pay a contractor to do the work.
"It was about $15,000 to get it done and it was really going down two inches and putting packed asphalt and doing it the right way," he said.
They soon found out only city crews are allowed to repair or repave a city street. “We’re all out of options, I watch NBC and I know you guys go out and do your due diligence,” Dasis said, explaining why he reached out to NBC 7 Responds.
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We looked into the data and found the city classifies a street’s quality using a 100-point system known as the Overall Condition Index (OCI). Anything below 40 is considered in poor condition and may qualify for "total reconstruction."
Hermes Street came in at 12.5 seven years ago in 2015.
"I think it’s in the single digits," answered Dasis when we asked him what he would rate the street’s current condition.
He added that he and his neighbors feel even more frustrated when streets around him have been repaired or even repaved since they first asked for the work on their street 16 years ago.
“It’s frustrating to me and my neighbors, I mean we’re all taxpayers,” said Dasis with several neighbors next him.
In early September, Mayor Todd Gloria’s office celebrated a new package of road repairs under his “Sexy Streets” project. It is a $40 million plan to upgrade 54 miles worth of roads throughout the city.
The project included repairs on the cul de sac on Limerick Avenue which has an OCI rating of 31.5. It’s in the “poor condition” classification but more than double the OCI rating of Hermes Street. We reached out to the city for answers.
"Unlike nearby streets that underwent slurry seal resurfacing, this segment of Hermes St. needs more intensive repair. The repair and resurfacing was to be bundled with a wastewater pipe replacement project set to start in 2025. We understand that is 3 years away and the City is currently looking at ways to push up the start date of the wastewater pipe project as well as what we can to repair the cul-de-sac in the interim," read the statement sent to NBC 7 by Senior Public Information Officer Anthony Santacroce.
"In my opinion, with the promises that have been done in the past, it’s not going to get done by 2025," said Dasis, explaining he has his fingers crossed but past promises were made during election years.
NBC 7 Responds will keep an eye on this story and provide any updates, should the city make any repairs on Hermes Street.
