Los Angeles repairs roads riddled with potholes after recent rain
The Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services concluded a month-long pothole repair project, which began in March in response to frequent rains earlier in the year. (Joe Akira/Daily Bruin staff)
By Maanas Hemanth Oruganti
April 4, 2019 12:37 a.m.
The City of Los Angeles completed a month-long project in March to reduce the number of potholes in Los Angeles.
The “pothole blitz” project, a City of LA Bureau of Street Services initiative, aimed to identify and repair potholes in LA after frequent winter rains caused an increase in road damage across the city. The bureau estimated the project would repair 1,200 potholes, said Paul Gomez, a Department of Public Works public relations representative, in an email statement.
Gomez said the project identified potholes throughout LA in its first week and worked on repairing them over the course of four weeks by Sunday.
Alison Hewitt, a UCLA spokesperson, said UCLA Transportation said it did not work with the city on the project because there do not appear to be any major safety concerns for vehicles, traffic or pedestrians near UCLA. Hewitt added that UCLA Transportation said it coordinates with the city on pothole repairs when there are significant safety concerns.
Gomez said the increased amount of rain this winter generated a large number of potholes.
LA experienced around a 5-inch increase in precipitation in February compared to 2018 partly due to unusual wind patterns from the North Pole.
UCLA Transportation said it did not receive any formal complaints about potholes near campus. The department added although many vehicles experience various degrees of impact from driving over potholes, there has been little to no impact on the services and vehicles provided by UCLA Transportation.
Joshua Castillo, a fourth-year English student, said he feels the potholes have not significantly impacted his drive to campus, but they surprised him the first time he encountered them.
“I usually notice them the first time I hit them, and it always really pisses me off,” Castillo said. “Afterwards, I just always make sure to avoid them.”
Omar Perez, a first-year undeclared student, said he sometimes uses the bus to commute to campus and has not noticed many potholes in Westwood.
“I don’t know that there are that many potholes from what I’ve seen,” Perez said. “So it’s not much of a problem, for me at least.”
Gomez said approximately 250 potholes were repaired in and around Westwood over the course of winter prior to the start of this project.
Gomez did not specify if the City of LA Bureau of Street Services would repair any potholes in Westwood during the project.
It takes around three consecutive, dry working days for the bureau to repair each pothole, Gomez said.
The LA City Council allocated $250,000 from the Measure M Local Return fund to provide support for this project, Gomez said. The fund collects income designated for street repair from a tax raise approved by voters in 2016, he said.
Gomez added the bureau plans to raise funds to repair streets in poor condition and address the rising number of potholes throughout LA after the project’s completion Sunday.
