It is good to hear that the city will really fix California Avenue and not just slap some oil and little rocks over the top and call it a job.

We got the idea that was the plan at first. Now the city street folks are agreeing that there are some serious problems beneath the surface of West Seattle's "main street."

Tim St. Clair's story on Page One says it clearly: "Much of California Avenue's road base is broken, particularly the center lane."

That broken, rutted, jagged road base badly covers a sub layer of some concrete and some asphalt that, in turn, is covering crushed rock. All this means that there are some serious problems on California Avenue.

Add to that the fact the street's center lane was not installed right in the first place, so almost all of is going to be replaced.

We would like to have a dollar for every gut-busting jolt from a slew of horribly done patches for sewers and waterline repairs. This newspaper still wonders why we have inspectors that supposedly inspect repair work if they don't inspect. Even a road repair foreman in Mogadishu could do a better job.

It will take until sometime next spring before all the work is done and there is no cost estimate made available from the city's transportation department. We hope that does not mean a repair bill that will soar with the Bostonian tunnel folks.

But, in a bit less than a year, we may be able to drive from Edmonds to Admiral without needing to consider buying a Hummer.

That is progress. Now, about that viaduct . . . .