And I Thought the Price of Gas was High

The City of Pittsburgh was unable to finish its goal of paving 50 miles of street this year and is instead settling for 41 miles. The purported reasoning, the cost to pave a mile of road was $237,000 in April, and it has supposedly risen to $338,000 due to the price of oil. This is confirmed by both the Post-Gazette and the Trib, so it must be true.

I have a recommendation. Next time the mayor promises 50 miles of paving, can he lock in the price for 50 miles worth of asphalt?

From Pittsburgh Councilman, Mr Motznik, "The South Hills neighborhoods and the West End neighborhoods have been neglected." As of right now, no streets in my neck of the woods have been re-paved this year... There's no excuse for neglecting entire neighborhoods. The price of asphalt has been climbing all summer, and there should have been a mid-summer re-prioritizing to actually make sure that the worst streets got re-paved in the face of not meeting their annual goals.

(reference: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08253/910623-100.stm)