Belhaven Pothole Gardner

The City Of Jackson has itself quite a dilemma with its water-sewer line breakages and the subsequent repairs and repaving.  A funding plan is now in place with a one percent sales tax now in effect.

The biggest issue is where do you start?  The problem is that because of years of neglect it is now a city wide issue.  How does one decide on which streets and neighborhoods get attention first?  If some of the affluent sections end up at the top of the list, the complaints and protests will come from the other sections of town.

The current "remedy" seems to be fix the pipe breakages first, fill the hole with sand and gravel, then move on to the next one.

The Belhaven area is one of the many neighborhoods that is in desperate need of attention.  Riverside Drive is well known for its issues with Yazoo City.  Add in the water and sewer line breaks and you have yourself quite an obstacle course.  In my opinion, The City has more traffic cones, barrels, and barricades than any other neighborhood in the city.

An enterprising resident of Belhaven and his merry band of gardeners have taken up the task of taking a sad situation and have added humor by planting a variety of flowers and plants on top of the sand and gravel filled holes.

There have been several local news stories on this activity and some of the stories have drawn national attention.

I planned to take the spousal unit out to dinner tonight and i decided on a side trip through Belhaven first.  We crossed the interstate by way of Riverside Drive and boy, that God we had our seat belts on!  Yazoo clay all the way!

We felt like we were on a scavenger hunt of sorts, looking for those orange cones, barrels, and barriers!

Here are some of the pictures from our tour.  I have also included some from the Belhaven Pothole Gardner's Facebook Page.

Notice the "black flamingo"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must admit, this turned out to be quite an adventure!  We even came upon one barrel marking a new sinkhole from yet another line breakage.  One friend call us during this adventure and said "you are doing what????"

I wish there was a map of the all of the current "plantings" plotted out for the of the public to use to enjoy this tour.  Eventually the heat, vandals, or God forbid, the City of Jackson, will take their toll on these green oasis plantings.  If you're bored, or just have the time, take the tour.  We had a blast!