SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – Transportation advocacy group Circulate San Diego suggests that a tax on Metropolitan Transit System bus and trolley routes could generate a little more than $10 billion over 40 years for local infrastructure improvements.
The group Circulate San Diego is making a push to help fix all the potholes in San Diego by increasing the sales tax by half-a-cent.
The proposal comes as frustration continues to grow over potholes popping up all over the city.
Mike James told News 8 he cringes every time he hits a pothole and said some are just too tough to avoid.
“Oh yeah, there are quite a few. [It] feels like my front end is going to fall off. I mean it is pretty bad,” he said.
Potholes up and down San Diego streets are also making drivers like Isaiah Soto frustrated.
“Especially on El Cajon Boulevard – dude, it is like going through war out there,” he said.
Soto said he has seen potholes get patched up, but before long, they are reopened.
“It is a joke. They keep putting band-aids on these streets,” said Soto.
The City of San Diego acknowledges there has been at least one contractor it worked with previously that did a poor job of repairing roads.
City Spokesperson, Jose Ysea, said the contractor will re-do the work on his own dime. Ysea also said the recent rain has only made problems worse.
“It is frustrating for residents. It is frustrating for us as well,” he said.
He said currently there are about 1,400 open cases on the city’s “Get it Done” app. It is unclear how many there were around this time last year.
“We are beginning to chip away at the pothole requests. We do have crews we have deployed from other areas to street repairs to make sure we make those gains and get those requests filled,” said Ysea.
The city said it is averaging about a 10- to 11-day turnaround for any of the pothole requests it receives. If yours is not answered within that time, Ysea said be patient. In some cases, you may have to file the claim again.
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