By Michael V. Cusenza
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) made a commitment to quality-of-life issues a pillar of her campaign and tenure in office. So it came as no surprise on Thursday when she grilled City Department of Transportation brass on the precipitous decline in proper pothole repair in South Queens, particularly in District 32 communities.
“We’ve certainly seen more potholes in our boroughs and in my district especially,” Ariola noted as she spoke to the four DOT representatives testifying before the Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “So what happens is we notify DOT, we put in 311 complaints. They come out, they fill the pothole, but they fill it with cold patch. And they’re supposed to come back and fill it with asphalt and sealant—and that never happens.”
Courtesy of NYC.gov
Councilwoman Ariola delivers remarks last Thursday.
According to Superior Asphalt, LC, cold patch asphalt has a shorter lifespan than warm and hot mix asphalt. It’s best used for temporary asphalt repairs and maintenance like minor potholes and cracks. On average, depending on traffic weight and volume, cold patch asphalt lasts around a month or two until a permanent asphalt repair is required.
Ariola said he has been inundated with complaints on the temporary solution.
“Multiple constituents have told me that the minute the cold patch goes in, it immediately begins to break up, and becomes pebbles all over the street,” the councilwoman reported. “In fact one of my constituents filled 15 buckets of pebbles from the cold patch from the potholes that are on his street. Why aren’t we fixing the potholes the right way the first time?”
Courtesy of NYC.gov
The NYCDOT contingent at the hearing.
NYCDOT First Deputy Commissioner Margaret Forgione answered, “We share that concern. We don’t want half-complete repairs [and] then go back and revisit the site. Most of the day we have hot material available. Certain times of the day, particularly at night, we don’t always have access to hot material in every location, every borough. So we do pride ourselves on quickly filling potholes; but if we sent people out immediately, at a time when we did not have hot material available, that was why cold patch was utilized in that location.”
However, as Ariola said, most of the potholes in her district—whether it’s day or night—are being filled with cold patch.
“My constituents deserve to have their streets paved properly,” the councilwoman said, “we don’t want a quick patch that just puts a Band-Aid on the problem.”
