Selma is an old city with aging infrastructure. Like with anything, as things age they break down and need maintenance and a little extra care.

All of that extra care costs a pretty penny and the upkeep can be a lot of hard work. With that said and with that understanding in mind, we still think it’s time for city leaders to find a workable solution to the sinkhole and pothole problems many of our roadways are facing.

Selma’s historic district is riddled with roadway problems. Water Avenue has had a sinkhole that has been covered up with road barrels for several weeks and at this time no solution has been made public.

Water Avenue is a street that dozens upon dozens of visitors see each week as they tour the Edmund Pettus Bridge and surrounding area. Is that what we want them to see when they make the turn down Water Avenue — an eyesore?

Water Avenue isn’t unique with these problems either.  By the Dallas County Courthouse, potholes line the streets on Lauderdale Street and Franklin Street’s sewer line problems has forced motorists to find a different route.

We understand it’s a lot easier to talk about these problems than to actually fix them. Considering Selma is an older city with limited funding available, it’s understandable that there isn’t a fix-all magic wand leaders can wave to alleviate all of our road problems.

Yet, there has to be some traction made. The mayor and city council members have discussed the sink hole problems at council meetings, but little progress has been made.

It’s time that changes.

There are always going to be more roadway problems, especially in an aging city, but planning to deal with them in a timely manner isn’t an unreasonable request.

These problems aren’t going away any time soon. There are surely more sink holes and potholes in Selma’s future, as well as other problems. That’s just the result of age on anything, whether it be living creatures or old buildings. There’s no getting around it.

But the time to plan for how to deal with these current and future problems is now. It’s time to have an open discussion about Selma’s aging infrastructure and how the city plans to handle those problems moving forward.