Pothole repair is a costly problem

Crews were at work Monday afternoon fixing potholes left behind by recent storms in Santa Cruz. Most potholes don’t take long to fix. The main problem is that they keep coming back. That’s due in large part to the weather. It’s causing a headache for the city of Santa Cruz and its drivers. “We’ll (repair) them five days a week and we typically do about a hundred, 150 per day,” said Richard Smith, Streets and Traffic Supervisor with the City of Santa Cruz Public Works. That’s when it’s not raining. Because of recent rain, Richard and his crews have had to work even harder to keep up. Holes fixed on a Friday sometimes reappear on Monday. “That’s one of our main jobs, of the City of Santa Cruz Public Works is take care of weather related potholes or even potholes that open up naturally,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re trying to do in the break of the weather.” The rain makes roads already cracked even worse, creating new potholes or reopening existing ones.. Rene Paz and his workers at Lloyd’s Tire and Auto Care see cars damaged by potholes all of the time. “Right now with the rains that we’re having, typically I want to say we’ve been doing anywhere between 5 to 10 wheels a week,” Paz, the store’s manager said. Driving over potholes can damage more than just your wheels. Suspension parts can be damaged and an alignment may be needed after they’re replaced. It all adds up to a huge dent in your bank account. “Anywhere from 400 or 500 dollars on up to thousands of dollars,” said Paz “Depending on the year, make and model.” Smith from Public Works says if you’d like to avoid damage costs like that, drive slower. He adds that if you see shiny spots in the road, it’s most likely a water-filled pothole that could be a lot deeper than it seems. His advice is to drive over it with caution.