Crews Far Behind In Fixing Winter Potholes In Paterson, N.J.
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Winter may be long gone, but its effects still lingered in parts of New Jersey as June began – and drivers were feeling the pain.
As CBS 2's Christine Sloan reported, many towns have wrapped up their work to fix potholes. But the City of Paterson has just begun with its major repairs, and the bumpy and slow ride continued with summer in sight.
Drivers try to go around the potholes that plague many streets, but the massive holes are hard to avoid.
"This is not bad -- some streets, there's craters, really craters, and I have to hold my breath when I go down," said Paterson resident Frances Allen.
Crews have just started with the repairs, filling hundreds of potholes on Monday alone.
"It's not soon enough, because I don't drive at night, because I don't know what I'm going to hit," Allen said.
City officials said they do not have the money, but they passed a resolution last week to use $250,000 on fixing the holes.
"We did get money now, and I'm grateful for it, because we do need the help," said Paterson road supervisor Bill Rodriguez.
The money went to hiring outside crews, because Paterson recently laid off dozens of workers.
"We only got one crew, and a seven-man crew is not enough help for a city this size, and we did need the outside help," Rodriguez said.
City officials said Paterson is big, and when you have neither the manpower nor the money, it is hard to take care of the pothole problem.
The Paterson director of public works told CBS 2 that crews cut into the pavement and patched the holes to make sure the repairs will last for a while. But on at least three streets, the entire roadways will have to be repaired.
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