SAN DIEGO — With more rain on the way, the City of San Diego is anticipating more pothole repairs.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced progress on repairing local roadways, sidewalks and streetlights during a press conference Thursday.
“We will address safety concerns in the community with the priority they deserve, potholes are a safety threat,” Gloria said. “It’s also a threat to pedestrians, and cyclists for whom it could actually hurt.”
Crews have filled 17,000 potholes since the beginning of the year and the backlog was at 2,200, which has been dwindled to about 550, but expected to rise after the next round of storms and rains, according to the city.
Gloria says the city is making progress on the backlog of issues and working toward new plans, which include repairing 175,000 square feet of sidewalk, hiring private electricians to repair the nearly 6,000 streetlights that need to be repaired, and have hired a consultant to start an assessment of every street in the city on March 1, which will be completed in the fall. The city said this will provide them with data on which streets and areas to prioritize.
“There’s giant potholes everywhere,” Joseph DiMaio, office manager at FTS Auto Repair said. The auto shop is on Dagget Street, DiMaio said in his opinion it’s the worst road in all of San Diego.
Dimaio said not only does he have personal experience driving through the pothole flooded road, but working at an auto repair shop, he also sees customers whose cars are in need of repair.
“Oh gosh we’re getting a least a couple of week with flat tires, bent wheels, alignment knocked out, because of all the potholes everywhere,” DiMaio said.
DiMaio says he had two tires blown out because of potholes in the last four months and the city reimbursed him for it.
“A lot of our folks are going to be out this weekend, removing down trees, clearing out storm drains and making sure that property and life are preserved during this rain,” Gloria added.
Gloria is encouraging residents to report any issues through the Get IT Done app.