Amid ‘tremendous surge,’ L.A. says pothole repairs will be completed in April
First came the deluge, then the damaged roads.
Relentless rain left the streets of Los Angeles pockmarked with potholes, but city officials say some relief is on the way.
The city anticipates completing all pothole repair work by the end of April, Bureau of Street Services General Manager Keith Mozee said Thursday.
Crews are being diverted from other regular duties to focus on pothole repair and city workers are also driving hundreds of miles of city streets daily to proactively identify where repairs are needed, Mozee said.
The Bureau of Street Services’ focus is on the city’s major corridors, such as Sepulveda Boulevard, where Mozee spoke to reporters over the din of morning commuter traffic Thursday alongside Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and a handful of city workers in hard hats and reflective vests.
During normal conditions, pothole repair requests are typically responded to within one to three days, but the “tremendous surge†in repair requests has pushed that response time to within 10 days, depending on conditions, Mozee said.
The department has received 19,642 pothole repair service requests since December and has successfully completed 17,459 of those, according to Mozee.
Road closures and treacherous driving conditions have confronted drivers as agencies work to repair potholes caused by the winter storms.
“For Angelenos who have hit a pothole on their way to work or school, it’s more than an inconvenience. It’s also a financial burden,†Bass said. “Our city is increasingly unaffordable and these damages could mean missed days at work and unaffordable costs that create trade-offs at home.â€
The mayor urged Angelenos to report potholes they encounter by calling the city’s 311 hotline or by filing a report using the 311 app. Repairs can also be requested on the 311 website.
She also encouraged Angelenos who had already paid out of pocket to repair pothole-related damage to file a claim for assistance on the city clerk’s website.
Rain breeds potholes in aging roads around Southern California. You can file a claim for damage your car incurs, but reimbursement is not guaranteed.
Filing a pothole damage claim requires knowing which government entity was responsible for maintaining that particular section of road. The city of Los Angeles is answerable for all potholes on streets within its boundaries, but highways fall within the jurisdiction of Caltrans, the state transportation department.
“Water is the kryptonite to our asphalt,†Rodriguez said Thursday, referencing the reason city roads are showing so much wear and tear after a historic sequence of storms.
Since the start of the rainy season in October, 27.42 inches of rain have splashed into downtown Los Angeles, according to National Weather Service meteorologist David Sweet. That’s a little more than double the rain that the area would typically have received by this point in the season, Sweet said.
Times staff writer Jon Healey contributed to this report.
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