The weeks of nearly non-stop rain have made driving through San Francisco an even rougher ride.
On Thursday, crews used the break in the storm to try and fill some of the hundreds of new holes that have opened up in city streets.
“Busy, busy, busy,” said Christopher Brown of San Francisco Public Works. He said he’s trying to fill potholes before the next storm opens up more of them.
“When you get a large amount of water on the roads, water creeps through small cracks and starts loosening up the roads as you have these heavy vehicles with these buses driving up and down Market, it creates potholes,” he said.
Crews have been busy since New Years trying to fill as many potholes as possible, even in the storms.
“We have a mass of potholes to fill but we have quite a few crews out here today filling up the potholes around the city today so like today we have about 150 inspections to do,” said Brown.
People can report potholes through the 311 app.
A city spokesperson said that on average, they get about 600 requests a month. But this won’t be an average month.
In the first 11 days of January, they’ve already received 301, and expect the month to end about 20% higher than average.
The holes in the ground mean a boom in business for auto shops.
“There has been an increase of a lot of people coming in after the storm,” said Abel Juarez of Juarez Tires and Breaks. “Three customers were complaining, they blow their tire on the same place and pothole,” he said.
When asking Public Works about options for someone who believes their vehicle was damaged by a pothole on city streets, Rachel Gordon said, “You can file a claim with the city but it’s certainly not an automatic payout. You have to have photos, you have to have receipts, you have to have documentation there was actually a pothole that actually damaged your vehicle then it will be scrutinized by the city attorney’s office and a determination will be made whether the city is liable.”
Back on the streets, the race continues to fill the holes before the next storm creates more.
Workers are doing their best and have just one request.
“I just ask the public to have patience with us. We are filling holes, as many as possible we’re getting there,” said Brown.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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