Austin Street and Bridge Division

Recently my street had the good fortune of getting a surface replacement. The street wasn’t really in bad shape, but I guess our number came up.
The City apparently no longer does small jobs like this. Instead, they farm them out to subcontractors, for double the pleasure, double the profit, double the taxes.
Unfortunately, not all subcontractors respect private property, and one of them (TexCon) decided to use my empty driveway as a turnaround. Only problem was they were doing this while the street surface was still tacky, leaving black tire tracks three-​quarters of the way up my driveway. I know, I know – first world problem – but tell that to my HOA.
With Stage 2 watering restrictions in effect, there is no way I can pressure wash my own driveway. So, after talking to the contractor’s crew, I put in a call to my friendly 311 operator to see if I could get a reasonable resolution. All I wanted was to have the contractor make it right and clean up behind themselves.
Austin 311 rocks. They always do their job extremely politely, efficiently, and thoroughly. They can often get things done faster than you could ever imagine. I’m going to give them a five-​star review here soon. But, I digress.
Unfortunately, Jason, an engineer at Street & Bridge isn’t as effective as 311. He did not respond to my request until just before the five-​day timer expired on my 311 request. His response was to toss it over the wall to the City’s legal department. By then, the street work was completed and the contractors were gone. And my alternative would be to hassle with the process of filing a claim with the City.
Nothing quite like hiding behind the bureaucracy when all you had to do was to call the contractor and have them cease, desist, and clean up, now is it? That’s all I wanted, not any claim for compensation.
I tried calling Jason a few times at his desk number this morning to talk it over with him, but, apparently he only works off voice mail. Oh well. There’s always a council member willing to listen when staff does not seem to have the time.
I’d like to give five stars, because the roadway seems to have turned out great – and just in time for Christmas. But that was due to the contractor’s effort, not that of Street & Bridge. All they did was sign some papers so another company could do their work for them and cause me trouble. For you, a generous one-​star lump of coal.