Letter to the editor: Mantua Street improvements are desperately needed

Editor’s note: The Portager publishes letters to the editor from the community. The opinions expressed are published not because they necessarily reflect those of the publication but because we feel they contribute meaningfully to the local discourse on matters of public interest.

As a 20+ year resident of the River Bend neighborhood, I and many of my neighbors are looking forward to hearing the latest from Mr. Jim Bowling. The preview doesn’t sound significantly different from what we heard at the initial meeting. I can say that many of us in the neighborhood and the larger community are not pleased with the condition of state Route 43 (Mantua St.) as we try to drive on it or exit our subdivision. I can also say that we have been dissatisfied with the conditions of our streets within the neighborhood but that is another issue for discussion, hopefully soon.

It feels like Groundhog Day trying to get out of the neighborhood due to potholes and incessant traffic in both directions going well above the 35 mph. It is not only a school issue at the beginning and end of the day or a Davey Tree issue, it is pretty much constant and unpredictable. Unlike many of the readers of The Portager, my neighbors and I have a vested interest in the outcome both on 43 and in fixing our neighborhood roads.

I hope that our city council will take the time to come to see what it is like trying to turn left onto Mantua St. at rush hours and school hours. I will gladly take them on a tour of the streets of River Bend. My guess is we will not have a lot of takers. I hope I’m wrong. My wife and I have lived here since 2004 and we love our neighbors and I do not pretend to speak for them.

I hope they will do that at the meeting on the 12th at Kent Roosevelt and express their views. If anyone in the city administration wants to contact me prior to the meeting, I will send my contact information to Jack Amrhein.

Thomas Lynch, Kent