Late last month reader J. P. Weiss reported a nice pothole on the North side of Wilshire Blvd. at Thayer (just East of Westwood). “This one cost me $550 of damage this weekend,” Weiss reported.
We haven’t had a chance to follow-up on this to see if the pothole has been filled — but Weiss has filed a claim against the city.
But with the recent rain deluges inundating the city, we’ve seen more and more potholes opening up all over L.A. Some bad streets: Willoughby between LA Cienega and Fairfax; Cahuenga between Sunset and Hollywood Blvds., Franklin between Gower and Beachwood; and so many side streets in the mid-Wilshire areas that we just can’t keep track of them.
What’s worse are the bad roads that have not been repaired. Try driving down the right hand lanes of Santa Monica Blvd., or Beverly Blvd. or Wilshire Blvd. east of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood — the troughs created by the city’s buses make it hazardous to drive more than 10 MPH. And then there’s the horrible intersections that just have not been repaired for more than a year — even though we’ve reported them many, many times. Three are egregious: The intersection of Franklin and Whitley in Hollywood, a busy thoroughfare with a horrible dip, buckled asphalt and potholes that cause drivers to slow down and swerve to the right or left to miss the horrible mess. L.A. Councilmember Tom LaBonge knows about this — we spoke with one of his aides last year — and he should be ashamed that nothing has been done about it. The other two bad intersections are Willoughby and Seward and Willoughby and Wilcox — though they aren’t in LaBonge’s district — which have been is disrepair despite complaints.
After this weekend’s rain, things will only get worse: rainwater seeping under asphalt is a great recipe for potholes. See the factsheet here.