Go Back to Gravel Roads -<br />By MITCH SMITHMARCH 7, 2017<br />OMAHA — After living more than 40 years along a road plagued by potholes, Jo Anne Amoura<br />was excited to see city crews shred her block of Leavenworth Street into gravel.<br />“In grinding up streets and putting gravel roads in the middle of the core of your city,<br />that damages the reputation, that damages the image and brand of a city,” said Heath Mello, a Democrat and former state lawmaker trying to unseat Ms. Stothert this spring.<br />Only after the asphalt had been ripped out almost three years ago did Ms. Amoura and her neighbors learn<br />that their street had been “reclaimed,” Omaha City Hall’s euphemism for unpaving a road.<br />“I think that’s a step backwards in the infrastructure business,” said Mac Andrew, a retired public works director<br />in the Kansas City area who was named one of the best in his field by the American Public Works Association.<br />“I wouldn’t like it and neither do the residents that live on those streets,” said<br />Mayor Jean Stothert, a Republican who is nearing the end of her first term.<br />“I’d like it to be the way it was,” said Ms. Thonen, who has lived in her home for more than 30 years<br />and has no interest in splitting the cost of repaving with the city.
