Driver says potholes on Williams Road in Salinas caused her to get into an accident

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- It was more than just a bumpy ride Monday morning for Yuriko Romero, after she got into an accident she said was due to a pothole.

The city recognizes the problem but says more money needs to be allocated for the repairs.

"Tried to avoid it, it's when I started swerving back and forth. trying to take control of the car because I essentially lost control of the car, ended up maybe half a mile down the road," said Romero

Romero as she recalls hitting a pothole while driving to work in Salinas on Williams Road near the cross streets of Boronda Drive and Old Stage Road.

"Hopefully we can get these holes patched up or the road redone," said Romero.

Romero says she grew up driving on Williams Road, but now she’s fed up with the bumpy stretch of flawed pavement. She says it almost took her life.

"It's just that my family came to mind immediately. so just thinking that I could have possibly lost my life and, you know, not being able to see them anymore," Romero said.

KION checked in with the city and says there is funding allocated every year to fix the potholes.

Sophia Rome, management analyst says, "The city is always fixing potholes we are always doing everything we can to fix the potholes we ask that the community report them to us."

From January to April, public works say they have fixed over 11-thousand potholes.

The city’s budget for road maintenance is about $7 million per year.

Rome says that’s not enough. "The problem is bigger than the amount of money we have."

Romero says, no cost is greater than someone’s life.

"So, you can see these right here from the seatbelt. I have some on my chest and on my legs. body aches, of course. you know, the car's pretty damaged, probably totaled. It's more scary because it can happen to anyone. You know, moms, dads," said Romero.

The city says it would cost about $23 million a year to maintain the roads.

According to the pavement management program, the city has $200 million to work on backed-up maintenance.