After a record-setting cold followed by an 80-degree improvement in temperature, the last thing likely on the minds of Clinton residents is the status of the summer maintenance schedule, but that is exactly what Public Works Director Steve Lobb is thinking about.

Planning and evaluation are primarily at the front of mind for Lobb and his crews. He indicates they are evaluating areas that need improvement and where the limited dollars they have can go the farthest.

According to Lobb, the majority of the funds for summer work comes for the motor fuel tax and those have been pulled from cities' revenue streams for many years now.

As dollars dwindle and dwindle from the budgets for annual street work, Lobb notes the costs of construction continue to go up and that is causing a problem.

Among the challenges of keeping up with road work locally, Lobb says the inevitable mandates lawmakers hand down and most just increase the cost of a project.

Lobb says there are projects that need attention now and the list is only going to grow and he notes that is going to lead to some areas only getting worse before they get better.