City responds to big pothole problem

Yes, government can do something to improve the quality of our roads. We happen to be referring in this case to the city of Rock Hill.

South Carolina drivers can’t yet be certain that the state government will produce a feasible plan to fix crumbling roads and bridges. But Rock Hill already has demonstrated that it can fix a substantial number of potholes on the streets local drivers navigate in a timely manner.

Until last October that might have struck many residents as the impossible dream. Rock Hill streets – some maintained by the city, some by the state – were pockmarked with hundreds of potholes ranging from annoying divots to huge, axle-destroying craters.

And getting them filled in, whatever the size, was not easy. It required a three- to four-person crew in a dump truck hauling an equipment trailer to the scene, and maybe a second truck to block and redirect traffic.

But last year, the City Council approved a plan to devote an extra $300,000 in the 2015-16 budget on road paving and maintenance, much of it focused on fixing potholes. Among the items included in the budget were special, $170,000 pothole trucks, self-contained and requiring only a two-man crew.

Within seven months, the city reported last week, the entire backlog of gaping potholes had been repaired. The city had a list of 250 potholes, and now all those have been filled in, said Terrence Nealy, city public works director.

Altogether, the city estimates road crews have responded to around 900 calls to repair potholes and filled 169 utility cuts since the trucks hit the road. That amounts to an average of about 10 to 15 potholes a day, and crews generally complete a work order within 24 hours after it’s filed.

The system has worked so well that next year’s budget plan contains an additional $300,000 for road work, raising the total available to around $1.16 million, compared to about $860,000 last year. That could include repaving some of the city’s worst roads.

The city also does work the state can’t – or won’t – do, namely fixing state-maintained roads within the city limits. The S.C. Department of Transportation often finds it more practical to ask Rock Hill to send out the pothole truck instead of waiting until a state crew can respond.

Fixing potholes is something governments are supposed to do. It’s sad, in a way, that taxpayers find it remarkable when a branch of government actually functions in addressing a problem such as potholes, which affect just about everyone.

We applaud the city for recognizing a severe problem and effectively doing something about it. It’s no surprise that residents have responded with praise for the city – even if it requires devoting more public money in the budget for two years in a row to the project.

State lawmakers, take note.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "City responds to big pothole problem."