Hitting a Bay Area pothole cost us $900 in repairs
Q You should warn readers about the dangers of potholes this time of the year. Last week we were entering Interstate 280 from Sand Hill Road when we hit a major pothole that shredded both tires on the right side of our car and cracked the right rear rim. At night we couldn’t see the hole, and now we have a bill for over $900. A.K. Lund San Mateo A Geez, some weeks I feel I do nothing but write about potholes. While $900 is steep, it’s far down the list. The highest occurred a couple of years ago on Interstate 580 when Sherie Blake, of San Jose, totaled her Acura after slamming into a giant pothole, and it was declared a loss of $14,600. The second most expensive job reported to Roadshow came from Eduardo Bernardo — $5,400 for pothole damage on Highway 101. Can anyone top those?
More important, who has been successful in getting Caltrans to reimburse them for pothole-caused or other road hazard repairs? Let me know. By the way, that link for filing a claim is www.dot. ca.gov/damageclaims.html. Q There is a major asphalt separation at Interstate 80 southbound from under the San Pablo Dam Road overpass to San Pablo off-ramp. Why wasn’t this repaired last summer, as it was bad then? And a major accident will happen as cars swerve to straddle Interstates 80/880 from Hercules to San Leandro, which is riddled with potholes and rough roads. There is faded white striping or none at all, and reflector markers are missing.
I asked Caltrans why they are not proactive and they said they do not have the manpower or the funds to make the repairs. I was advised to send my suggestion to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission or the state Assembly.
For now, let’s bombard Caltrans with Maintenance Service Requests at www. dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ msrsubmit to make our freeways safe until Caltrans management becomes proactive. Shelly Marie El Cerrito A Caltrans has been filling potholes on I-80, especially around San Pablo Avenue. In the coming days, that will include grinding and repaving work. Coming up in the East Bay: Soon, the westbound lanes on I-580 from Grant Line Road to the Greenville Overpass will get some paving and grinding work. The Oakland and San Leandro stretches of 880 will get their turn this summer. Also, there is a large I-80 construction paving project scheduled for the summer of 2018, with a chance that work will start early.
Pothole-riddled roads take an expensive toll on California cars. In the Bay Area, the average cost is $760 a driver and in Los Angeles, it is $950. Q Is there is a limit on the amount that FasTrak can charge for the I-580 corridor toll? It’s been hovering at $9 eastbound for the past few days. Worse, traffic bunches up in Livermore and was actually SLOWER than the adjacent lanes of traffic. I assume they can charge whatever they want. Pat Hamilton Tracy A At the time of opening last February, the maximum westbound toll was set at $13 and the maximum eastbound toll at $9.