(WSB photos/video)
If you’re going to be The King of Potholes, you might as well go get a firsthand look at your kingdom. That’s what District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka did this morning, joining an SDOT “Pothole Rangers“ crew at work in South Park and West Seattle. We heard him mention the plan during yesterday’s meeting of the Transportation Committee, which he chairs, so we contacted his staff and arranged to meet up at his first stop.
In this case, the Pothole Rangers had a fairly deep rut to deal with immediately south of the city transfer station in west South Park – an industrial area heavily traveled by trucks. Saka put on a hard hat and vest and joined the crew.
The rain stopped just in time, but SDOT’s crew told us they work in every kind of weather except snow/ice. So first task was to dry out this pothole best as they could.
Then came the application of “tack,” to which the asphalt fill would adhere. And finally the asphalt itself, with which the councilmember assisted:
Here’s the “after” view, and how the process concluded:
As recently noted here, SDOT crews – which are based regionally, including one assigned to West Seattle – filled more than 25,000 potholes around the city last year. And there’s always more waiting to be filled – here’s a screengrab from the map of reported-and-waiting potholes:
(Go here for options on how to report one.) Saka told us this is just the first visit he plans to make to a variety of frontline crews – he’ll be visiting bridge-maintenance workers too. He also reiterated that he’s well aware the underlying cause of potholes needs to be addressed too – streets in desperate need of repaving. The next transportation levy is expected to address that, though Saka said he hasn’t been involved yet in specific project lists, so he doesn’t know whether, for example, SW Roxbury (which was supposed to be repaved with Levy to Move Seattle money, then got shelved) will be addressed.
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