Potholes plaguing LA County drivers after onslaught of rain
An onslaught of rain, brought on by back-to-back atmospheric rivers, has created a plethora of new issues for drivers in Los Angeles after hundreds of potholes began to appear on the already hectic roadways.
Dozens of videos posted to social media show driver after driver hitting one massive pothole that popped up on Riverside Drive in the Valley Village neighborhood on Monday, which has so far taken out at least eight cars according to one person living in the area.
Broken wheels and popped tires a plenty plagued drivers all over Southern California on Tuesday after continuous days of rain.
"Our infrastructure is not ready for all this water that hits us here in SoCal," said Michael Martinez, who works at Barkley Tire & Service, where they had multiple cars brought in with damage from potholes. "The downpour just had us busy all day, all day constant flat repairs, constant flat tires. Our people are suffering from it."
Los Angeles Public Works crews claim that they've received more than 280 reports of potholes throughout the area, creating a load of work. Since the beginning of the year, they've already had to repair around 1,675 potholes, a drastic difference from the uncharacteristically wet 2023, when they had more than 17,300 fixes to make that cost nearly $2.5 million.
Still, they expect that the number of potholes repaired this year will see a notable jump in coming days.
While surface streets have seen a severe impact, freeways are not exempt from similar damage caused by the overly saturated ground. A sinkhole opened up off the side of the 210 Freeway in Sylmar on Monday afternoon, while another large pothole started to form on the same stretch of road in Monrovia.
"You know, our maintenance crews have been working 24-7, 12 hour shifts," said Allison Colburn, a spokesperson with Caltrans. "They're responding to things as fast as they possibly can."
Colburn says that drivers who hit a pothole on the freeway are eligible to file a claim if they believe that Caltrans is at fault.
"There's a lot of people that think there his a reimbursement program that we have," she said. "We do not have a reimbursement program. ... There are limited circumstances ... when Caltrans may be statutorily responsible for damage to a vehicle."
Public Works advises that drivers slow down if they see water on the road, which may be masking a pothole. If you do run into one, don't brake and do not swerve as it may cause more damage.
However, there are a number of other resources available for people who do run into a problem, including:
- Filing a claim with the Los Angeles City Clerk;
- Filing a damage claim with Caltrans;
- Filing a claim with Los Angeles County;
- Reporting a pothole with Los Angeles County.
