Potholes are a menace in Staten Island, so much so that the Staten Island Advance has on occasion published a column, Pothole Phil, to keep locals up to date on the worst potholes, and to give residents a place to vent their frustrations about street conditions. “When the holes are filled with water, you can’t tell how deep they are. I wasn’t even goin’ fast and I broke my axel,” said John Gay, who lives near Richmond Terrace.
Frank Respoli, a service advisor at Pepboys on Forrest Avenue, said Gay was one of many Islanders who have been hammered by this problem. “A lot of people come in during the week, and we can tell right away the damage is from a pothole,” Respoli said.
Potholes can harm many parts of the vehicle, including but not limited to tires, rims, tie rods, shocks, struts, and suspensions. Respoli said the average price to fix these damages was between $250 and $1000. “Slow down,” Respoli said he has advised his customers, “and try to pay close attention to avoid potholes.”
Is the city doing enough to address the issue. “The real question is,” Sam Akinrinade, of Victory Boulevard, said, “does the city have the ability to achieve a permanent solution instead of just continuously patching individual potholes.” Akinrinade also said, “The problem with potholes is it takes a long time to get them fixed. When it rains or snows the patches come out again and just create more headaches.”
Said Staten Island Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Cocola, “We have to fix the roads or we will be in a lot of trouble.” Cocola has been quoted as saying that he plans to improve Staten Island’s roads on a massive scale within the next 10 years. With Staten Island being 60.9 square miles, Cocola has a lot of asphalt to cover.
“The problem with Staten Island’s roads is that many of our roads lack the fundamental efficiency of what a road needs,” Cocola said. “Most of our roads have no curbs, no side walks, and no catch basins.” Cocola even said, “Some of the roads aren’t even made with concrete.”
As a way to simultaneously fix the potholes and prevent new ones, Cocola said that the DOT has been focusing on resurfacing the streets, the ultimate pothole prevention. “We have to mill and take the top two inches off, and put down new asphalt,” he said. According to Cocola, roads that have been resurfaced normally remain in good condition for 7 to 10 years.
Until all of these roads are resurfaced, Cocola, who has never personally experienced damage from a pothole, has suggested that residents take advantage of what he called “Mayor Bloomberg’s greatest achievement: 311,” New York’s online Web site and phone number for government information and non-emergency services for residents, business owners and visitors. It was designed, according to the city government’s website, to provide the public with quick, easy access to all city government services.
Cocola said drivers need to learn the difference between potholes, hummocks, and cave-ins so that the report can go to the right crew. Potholes are bowl-shaped gaps that expose the concrete base below the layer of asphalt, caused by rain washing away road materials and by ice putting pressure on cracks and holes.
Cocola said that if a hole is bad enough, even though DOT prefers to repave, it should be fixed within a short amount of time. The standard time limit for fixing potholes, as set by the DOT, is supposed to be a maximum of 30 days. A recent audit by the DOT showed, however, that 38 days has been the normal limit. Cocola said, however, that Staten Islanders should “just call 311 and take a photograph if possible. If there is any damage incurred, people can go online to nyc.gov and file a claim within 90 days to get reimbursed for the damages.”
“When the Verranzano Bridge was opened in 1964,” Cocola said, “we did not have the major infrastructure needed to handle all of the new traffic and population explosion. Now it is our job to fix the inadequate web of roads built in the 1800s to handle our motorists’ needs.” Cocola has been the Commissioner of Staten Island’s DOT since August of 2007.