Michael Solorio was driving through Wilmington last week when he was faced with a split-second decision: hit a pothole that suddenly appeared in his path, or swerve out of the way.
“I was driving over the railroad tracks at Wilmington Avenue and Lomita Boulevard and saw (the pothole) at the last second,” Solorio, 27, of Harbor City, said.
“It was either I drive into a fence, into oncoming traffic or just take the hit.”
So he hit the pothole and lived with the consequences: A damaged tire and $250 spent for a replacement.
Like many other Southern California residents, especially in recent weeks as the region got soaked with relentless storms, Solorio is tired of having to zig-zag when driving along local roads.
It seems they are pocked everywhere with potholes.
The problem of potholes, which is certainly nothing new in Southern California, got worse in recent weeks as storms drenched the area and pooling water weakened pavements, ultimately damaging roads. Since December, Southern California has been hit with 12 atmospheric rivers, including the one dumping more rain and snow on the area earlier this week.
The wet weather has meant that Caltrans workers, city workers, contractors and others have responded to calls of potholes and other traffic madness around the clock, officials said.
“Our crews are working very hard, 24/7,” said Michael Comeaux, a spokesman for Caltrans.
While there have been much more severe issues related to the storms — among them, snowed-in residents in the mountains and home-threatening landslides along the coast — potholes are not simply a nuisance they may seem to be. In fact, they can be dangerous, leaving vehicles with serious damage and cause major traffic delays if they’re big enough.
Potholes were the reason for a full shutdown of the 71 Freeway in Pomona on Wednesday: Early that morning, at least 15 vehicles had their tires blown out by a series of huge potholes near the Valley Boulevard exit. The California…
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