It is a perennial problem and question for all governments, from local municipalities and counties to state and federal authorities — when are you going to fix our roads?

It’s a valid question. Commuters don’t want to risk damage to their vehicles or experience the discomfort of driving over potholes and worse damage.

Recently, the city of Brookhaven began its paving project addressing the repair of approximately 50 streets across the city. The

The Home Seekers Paradise has 395 streets and 137 miles of roadway, categorized into four groups: main thoroughfares, arterial, collector and subdivision. The current project’s focus is on arterial streets.

“These are used by everyone — the people-movers. They get people to school, to work, and in and out of town,” city engineer Ryan Holmes said before the project began.

Arterial streets have higher traffic counts than collector and subdivision streets and therefore suffer more wear and tear.

Repairing streets is expensive work, and therefore must be planned well. According to Holmes, a street’s ideal life is about 10 years, Holmes said. Asphalt streets are not fully replaced if not absolutely necessary due to the cost of everything involved, from materials to application, Holmes explained. Replacing three or four streets could cost the same as repairing 50, he said.

We are grateful to see progress on the repair projects, such as the filling of 10 or more large potholes on Dale Trail, one of the city’s most-traveled streets.

If the adage is true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, how much more so that the roads that can damage wheels get the repairs.