New mayor fixes a pothole to affirm campaign pledge

Decked out in jeans and a Hawaii Fire Fighters Association T-shirt, Mayor Kirk Caldwell shoveled hot-mix asphalt into a car-alignment-killing crater on Gulick Avenue in Kalihi Wednesday morning.

In his second week on the job, the demonstration was Caldwell’s way of showing he intends to make good on a campaign pledge that pothole repairs would be a priority in his administration.

"After heavy rains like this, potholes pop up everywhere around this island," the mayor said. When that happens, Facility Maintenance Director Ross Sasa­mura will bolster regular pothole staff with additional workers from routine maintenance crews so long as there are not more urgent projects, he said.

"It doesn’t mean that every pothole on this island is going to get filled, but more are going to get filled than would otherwise get filled, particularly after rain events," he said.

Caldwell urged the public to report potholes via a new city hotline at 768-7777 or at www1.honolulu.gov/dfm/road/pothole.htm.

Citizens can expect fixes to be made "anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks," depending on what district the complaint comes from and when that area is scheduled to be serviced, Sasamura said. If no work has been done in more than two weeks, call again, he said.

Sasamura said the city fills between 500 and 700 potholes weekly, "depending on how far apart the potholes are spread."

Both officials acknowledged that asphalt patching is only a short-term solution.

"This is a temporary fix to make sure the city has roads that are safe and driveable," Sasamura said. "The long-term fix, of course, is to rehabilitate the streets, to do a complete repaving."

The city has $100 million designated for more permanent road rehabilitation projects in the current year’s budget. Gulick Avenue, which got Caldwell’s elbow grease Wednesday, is on the list of streets scheduled for resurfacing.

Caldwell said he wants to see if the city can increase the amount designated for rehabilitation projects in the upcoming budget year that begins July 1.

"We go to those roads in the worst condition and we pave those roads first," he said.