Pothole patchers busy on O'ahu
| • | State seeks to sell useless $156,000 pothole patcher |
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
The number of potholes on O'ahu roads has jumped almost tenfold after recent rains, city officials said yesterday. Motorcyclist Louis Ilac feels like he has seen — and felt — most of them.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We were out riding yesterday and you couldn't go left or right without hitting a pothole. There are craters and holes everywhere you go," said Ilac, who lives in Ma'ili and works as a store manager for Lex Brodie's Tire Co. in Waipahu. "We were trying to dodge them all over the island."
City road maintenance workers, from left, Dominic Dimon, Duke Reis-Moniz and Danny Thomas patch potholes on Kalihi Street. Recent rainstorms have increased the number of holes on O'ahu roadways, bringing in a flood of calls to the city and state.
Ilac wasn't the only one to notice the sudden spurt in potholes.
Complaints to a city pothole hotline jumped more than 600 percent during the weekend, and a similar state hotline filled up with recorded messages by Sunday afternoon. Several auto-repair businesses said they've seen a modest increase in alignment and tire repairs made necessary by all the holes in the road.
Since Friday, the number of calls to the city hotline has averaged more than 69 a day, said Larry Leopardi, director and chief engineer of the city's Department of Facility Maintenance. Normally, the hotline receives anywhere from one to 10 calls a day, he said.
City and state officials yesterday said they were racing to deal with the potholes that have cropped up after two major rainstorms in the past month. Even with more crews than usual working, officials say it will probably take at least a week to reduce the backlog.
• Maintain full air pressure in all tires to give as much cushion as possible between the pothole and the rim of the tire. • Before swerving around potholes be sure to check surrounding traffic. • Beware of standing water that may conceal a deep pothole. • If the pothole cannot be avoided, slow down. Hitting a pothole at high speed increases the chance of damage to tires, wheels, shocks, struts and springs. • Don't brake when directly over a pothole. Applying the brakes causes the car's weight to shift to the front wheel and can increase damage. It's better to brake before impact and then roll through the pothole at a low speed. • When driving over a pothole-filled road, hold the steering wheel firmly to avoid losing control. • If you suspect damage from a pothole collision, pull over as soon as possible to assess it. If you notice damage, record details of the event and specific damage just as you would in the case of a collision with another car and report it to your insurance agent. Sources: Independent Insurance Agents of America, AAA.
"We're working as fast as we can, but this is probably the worst we've seen it in several years," Leopardi said. "I don't even want to think about trying to count all of them."
Tips for driving over potholes
City drivers may think the problem is even worse because most of the potholes are cropping up on major thoroughfares in parts of Honolulu and Leeward O'ahu that received the most rain in the recent storms, he said.
Up to eight city crews working on overtime through the weekend were assigned to clear roadways, remove standing water and fix potholes, Leopardi said. Normally, the city has two full-time road maintenance crews and two part-time crews assigned to pothole and other road duties, he said.
State crews took advantage of sunny weather on Saturday and Sunday to fill major potholes on Farrington Highway in Leeward O'ahu, Nimitz Highway, Pali Highway and the H-1 Freeway corridor from Pearl City to Hawai'i Kai, Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.
"The potholes are being reported around all of O'ahu," he said. "No area of the island was spared by the rain last week."
The potholes are caused by water seeping into cracks in the road and then expanding and contracting below the surface. Heavy water can also erode road surfaces, creating soft spots that lead to new cracks and, eventually, more potholes.
Poor road conditions cost Hawai'i drivers an extra $114 million a year, or nearly $151 per motorist, in repair and operating costs, according to a 2001 survey by the Society of Civil Engineers in Hawai'i.
"We're seeing a few extra cars coming in already, but sometimes it takes a while for the damage caused by alignment problems to show up," said Porsche Dudoit, secretary at Island Brake & Alignment Inc. in Pearl City.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Repairs for alignment problems caused by running into potholes typically cost less than $100, but unseen damage often can lead to more extensive problems, such as badly worn tires, she said.
It could take about a week before the backlog of pothole repairs on O'ahu is reduced. In the meantime, drivers may feel the pain in their pocketbooks as the potholes take a toll on their vehicles.
A far more serious problem is the damage the potholes can cause to expensive rims, Ilac said.
"Some of these guys are driving around with a set of wheels costing anywhere from $3,500 to $7,000," he said. "You don't want to run into a big hole with those."
Damage to tires and wheel-alignment systems generally are not covered by insurance companies because they are considered maintenance problems rather than an accident, said Carolyn Fujioka, a spokeswoman for State Farm Insurance in Hawai'i.
However, if the rims or wheels are damaged because of a run-in with a pothole, then the owner may be eligible for reimbursement from insurers, she said. In extreme cases, the insurance company might make a claim against the city, which has a responsibility to maintain safe roadways.
Drivers also have the option of filing a claim with the city or state for repair costs, but reimbursement can take up to a year, officials said.
To report a pothole
Ilac takes the pothole problem personally because he rides a custom-built motorcycle that doesn't have shock absorbers.
"I know where every single bump in the road is," he said. "Kamehameha Highway is in bad shape. So is the freeway. I hit one bump the other night that put my bike a foot and a half into the air. I figure it's going to take six or eight months of employment to fix everything right."
Leopardi said city crews think they'll have the backlog reduced in about a week, assuming that there aren't any more heavy rains. Costs of all the overtime work have not been calculated yet, he said.
City crews are using a new synthetic patching material to fix the potholes, rather than regular asphalt, in part because O'ahu's only asphalt mixing plant has been closed for the holidays.
"It's more expensive, but it resists water better," he said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.
