BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The recent rains turned several Campus Park neighborhoods into a muddy mess.

Residents who contacted ABC 23 said the mess is partly because the city has been lagging on getting the streets paved.

Cars struggle to get through the mud and muck that covers the streets, and residents struggle to keep clean.

"As you can see, there is a lot of mud, and it's hard not to even get your shoes dirty," said Kassandra Galindo, who has to cross the mud filled streets to get to school.

Resident Vera Garay said she was notified by the city that her street along with several surrounding streets would be getting repaved from Jan. 7 until Jan. 15. But the recent storms put a damper on the city's plans and turned the dug-up streets into a messy situation.

"They started a month ago and they haven't been able to fix it. Every time we go out we are slipping and sliding we can't even walk on the curbs because they are full of mud. We walk on the grass," she said.

The streets are so bad many residents can't get to their mailboxes to retrieve their mail. Tuesday's storm made the streets even worse that the mailman didn't even deliver mail.

Brad Underwood, assistant public works director, said last year they had good luck with construction in the winter time.

"With the rain continually occurring, we couldn't get in there and do much with it, but now it looks like we will have a let-up with the rain, and we can get things cleaned up for the residents. We understand their frustration but you know it kind of caught us off guard," said Underwood.

City crews and private contractors were working feverishly Wednesday to get the streets cleaned up. But resident Edith Nealeigh said she thinks it was bad planning on the city's part and now wants them to pay up.

"I think they should compensate the residents with something, like get your car washed," she said.

The city cannot offer compensation but city officials are offering assurance.

"The street superintendent has been out there to talk to some of the residents, I know. So we are trying to get the word out that we are not ignoring them and we are continuing to work on the problem," he said.

It's a dirty problem residents will have to put up with for a little while longer.

Underwood said he expects the contractor to get the streets ready for paving Saturday, with actual paving starting Monday.