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The Lower Merriewood Stairs
Fixed for a Third Time!
by Jim Dexter
In the past three weeks, the
Oakland Public Works Agency has performed additional repairs on the Lower
Merriewood Stairs that run between Thornhill Drive through Marden Lane
to Merriewood Drive.
The additional repairs make
for a safer set of stairs. The repairs included the following:
• additional strengthening some railings
• adding a concrete landing step at the lower end of the new wooden
stairs
• adding a few new ‘railroad tie’ steps to replace severely-damaged
steps
• adding some more asphalt to repair ‘holes’ in the railroad
tie’ steps
Future Work on the Lower
Merriewood Stairs
Further work on the Lower Merriewood Stairs will now be delayed until
work begins on the Upper Merriewood Stairs later this summer. The large
construction crews necessary for the major re-build project will be responsible
for performing upgrades to the Lower Merriewood Stairs as well. These
upgrades may include a full re-asphalting of the ‘railroad ties’
steps, replacing of all ‘railroad ties’, re-building of the
wooden stairs at the top of the Thornhill/Marden Lane section of the stairs,
and further smaller items. By the end of the summer, we should have a
Lower Merriewood Stairs that will last for years.
Oakland Public Works Agency
Lives Up to It’s Promises
Throughout the last three months of 2000 and the first five months of
2001, the Oakland Public Works Agency has made many promises to those
interested in the re-building of the Lower and Upper Merriewood Stairs.
They have, so far, made good on these promises concerning both sets of
stairs. The Lower stairs are now in an interim ‘safe’ state
after being worked on for over two months. The Upper stairs have received
many inspections, including a major personal inspection by the heads of
the PWA, and contracts are being developed to perform the necessary work
on the stairs. Whenever the PWA has promised to perform an activity relating
to the Upper and Lower stairs, they have performed to that promise. While
there is much more to be accomplished, what has been done to date indicates
a new, more trustful relationship with the Oakland PWA can now be established.
by Jim Dexter
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