Hollister
– Every day up to 30 trucks, loaded with 80,000 pounds of
produce, mushrooms or fish, navigate the potholes in front of Brent
Redmond Transportation Inc. on Lana Way in Hollister.
Hollister – Every day up to 30 trucks, loaded with 80,000 pounds of produce, mushrooms or fish, navigate the potholes in front of Brent Redmond Transportation Inc. on Lana Way in Hollister.
On Friday afternoon, three city workers were shoveling asphalt into the potholes, each three feet across and on the verge of morphing into one. With the city’s decision to eliminate two street maintenance positions in its recent budget cuts, the street crew will now only repair potholes when they reach a critical depth of three inches, said Ray Rojas, Hollister Public Works streets supervisor and one of the busiest men in the city.
“We’re trying to address the major ones,” Rojas said. “The three-inch depth is the starting point on those.”
But one of the workers described their pothole patching effort as “just a Band-Aid.” It won’t be long until Gael McAbee, safety manager for the transportation company, calls the city for more repairs.
“We’ve been dealing with this for a couple years now,” McAbee said. “It’s frustrating.”
McAbee said the company has even attempted patching the holes itself, but has had little success. Water from a neighboring business’ landscaping has weakened the street’s base layer, preventing the repair from being a permanent fix.
“The permanent solution would be to dig this out and patch it from the bottom,” McAbee said.
Although the city may not have the resources for that solution, the new repair policy is designed to protect the foundation of the city’s streets.
With potholes three inches deep, the top asphalt layer is gone and the base rock layer is exposed, said David Rubcic, associate civil engineer for the City of Hollister.
“Once water gets into the base it becomes a real issue for maintenance,” Rubcic said.
When the base layer absorbs water, it weakens, Rubcic said. Once that happens, repairs will not last as long.
Rojas said winter and spring can be the toughest time on potholes.
“When it rains that’s usually when they start popping out,” Rojas said. “Potholes are the heaviest during the rainy season.”
The city relies mainly on reports from residents to identify potholes. Street workers inspect reported holes and visually estimate their depth. Crews will fix shallow potholes near deeper potholes already scheduled for repair, Rojas said.
Rubcic said repairing a three-inch pothole doesn’t take much longer than repairing a one-and-a-half-inch pothole.
“If you were going all over town fixing the same potholes, you’re not getting the same efficiency,” he said.
Although the city has a limited general fund to contribute to street repair, a $4.5 million state transportation grant may give city drivers some relief. The grant provides funding to re-pave some streets, fix sidewalks and make curb corners wheelchair-accessible, Rubcic said.
The first phase of construction is already under way on Cienega Road and Cushman Street south of Nash Road, Rubcic said. Construction on Valley View Road south of Sunnyslope Road should begin in late spring, he said.
“That will definitely help with the potholes,” Rubcic said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or
mv*********@fr***********.com
.
