City of Angels, city of potholes

Re “Roads in L.A. nation’s worst,” Oct. 4

Your informative article understates the enormity of L.A.’s road problems.

The huge number of manholes covering our sewers and other subsurface utility installations are some of the most devastating traps for vehicular traffic. Why? Due to the unbelievable sloppiness of workers and their supervisors, many of these manhole covers are not flush with the street surface when first installed.

These devastating traps usually cover large parts of lanes on many streets — and are virtually impossible to see at night and almost impossible to avoid in daylight hours.

Sid Turkish

Beverly Hills

I challenge anyone to find one pothole in the adjacent cities of West Hollywood, Santa Monica or Burbank. L.A.’s crosstown traffic is similar to these cities’ yet we just can’t seem to find the resources to do what our neighbors have done so well.

City officials and workers even create potholes by filling excavations on concrete streets with asphalt. This oil-rich material settles, forming new, improved potholes and speed bumps.

We’re getting higher utility bills and less service. This is the norm for the city of Los Angles.

Robert Curran

Hollywood

This major national study about L.A.’s roads reminds me of the story about a university that spent thousands of dollars on a study to locate the city’s brothels. In reality, all it had to do was ask any taxi driver.

Harvey B. Schechter

Beverly Hills