In the inaugural address for his second term in January 2020, Mayor Sylvester Turner promised Houstonians would see “noticeable improvements” in the quality of city streets by the end of 2023.
By the end of his first year, however, many of the street rehabilitation projects planned throughout the city had been delayed.
“There were contractor staffing shortages and supply shortages, and in the districts where projects did get completed, it was because they were already underway,” Houston Public Works spokesperson Erin Jones said.
Project design also took longer than anticipated because the public works department began following a new standard that requires the department to repair sidewalks along street repairs, Houston Transportation and Drainage Director Veronica O. Davis told City Council members at a transportation committee meeting in June.
