On The Prowl For Potholes -- With Street Repairs A Hot Issue In Seattle, Times Reporters Toured Eastside Cities

How long does it take to get a neighborhood pothole repaired on the Eastside?

Unlike Seattle, where pothole problems are a perennial complaint and even helped sweep City Councilman Charlie Chong into office last year, most Eastside cities have put a priority on pothole repair.

The Seattle Times scouted out potholes from Bothell to Issaquah and west to Mercer Island to find out just how prompt and efficient pothole-repair service is on the Eastside. Callers who reported potholes did not identify themselves as representatives of The Times.

The results? Seven of nine local governments had reported potholes repaired within two days. Some were repaired within hours.

Even more impressive: Potholes were hard to find in some cities.

Here's a rundown on what The Times found in each city and the numbers to call to report any potholes that were overlooked. Bothell, 486-2768

It took about 40 minutes to find a pothole in Bothell.

When one was found on Fitzgerald Road near 35th Avenue Southeast, a Public Works Department secretary took a report of the pothole and promised to notify the road-repair folks. In a few hours, an inspector determined that a "cold patch" would solve the problem temporarily. The repair was made within two days.

"Once we get word of a real bad pothole we fix it the same day. We try to keep up and be pretty responsive," said Mac McDonald, city maintenance superintendent.

On major arterials - state Highways 522 and 527, and Northeast 195th Street - response is immediate, McDonald said. Other roads generally take no more than two days to repair.

Last year, McDonald said, Bothell crews applied 106 road patches, including 70 for potholes. Bellevue, 455-7840

Bellevue promises next-day service on potholes.

A lengthy search for one ended with what appeared to be a classic pothole on the uphill side of 126th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Sixth Street: roughly 2 inches deep and about a foot wide.

City policy is to temporarily fill the hole within 24 hours, with main thoroughfares getting priority, said Al Braun, operations manager for the Utility Department.

Last year, Bellevue's Street Department received 332 complaints about potholes.

In this case, the pothole was still grabbing tires five days after it was reported, but it turned out not to be a regular pothole but a slot used by road-survey crews. A city official said the missing "monument" box and cover would be replaced. Issaquah, 391-1044

The pothole patrol in Issaquah is fast. The first pothole that was spotted was filled before a complaint could be made.

The next barely qualified as a pothole. It was an irregularity on Second Avenue Northeast. A call to Issaquah City Hall general information provided a recording about creek flood levels, and a call to the number listed under maintenance was answered by supervisor Jim Brown. He said that part of Second Avenue Northeast would be repaved in July but promised to look at the hole to see whether it should be patched until then.

Apparently he did because another small pothole nearby had fresh patchwork the next day.

Bret Heath, Issaquah public-works superintendent, said that last year the department received only 24 pothole reports: Twenty-two of them from city workers and two from the public. Typically, he said, potholes are fixed the same day they're reported unless major repairs are needed. Kirkland, 828-1100

In Kirkland, two potholes were fixed in less than four hours.

One was at Central Way and Market Street, around a manhole cover, the second at Third Street and Central Way.

A call to the city's main number was transferred to Public Works and then transferred to Maintenance. Four hours later, both holes had been neatly filled.

Such service is expected, said John Hopfauf, Street Department supervisor, adding that Kirkland has aggressive "overlay," or paving, and street-monitoring programs.

Kirkland gets about two pothole complaints a week and eight to 10 formal claims a year from drivers who say their cars were damaged by potholes.

But Hopfauf said no claims have been paid in recent years, partly because of the city's pothole prevention and its records documenting how rapidly it responds to pothole complaints.

"Once we know about them, we fix them," he said. Mercer Island, 236-5300

It took some driving to find a pothole on Mercer Island. A small one, about the size of a pie pan, was finally found at Southeast 30th Street and West Mercer Way.

The woman who answered a call to the city's main switchboard number said that she would pass along the information to the right department and that the pothole would be fixed within the next two work days.

The pothole was hard to find on a subsequent check the next day because it was already filled.

Anne Weigle, director of maintenance for Mercer Island, said most potholes are fixed the day the complaint is received.

"We are death on potholes," she said.

Last year Mercer Island fixed 76 potholes. Complaints about potholes rank about eighth on a list of residents' complaints. Newcastle, 822-4161

Either Newcastle doesn't have any potholes or no one looked in the right places. But there was a depression the size of a sled on Coal Creek Parkway.

For that, Newcastle directed a complaint to the state, where a woman who answered the first call to the Department of Transportation maintenance line said crews would patch it within a few days.

Six days later, drivers continued to swerve around the hole. A second call to the same number was answered by a man who said it was not under the jurisdiction of the DOT's Bellevue office but under its Kent office. A call to the Kent office office revealed the hole was in a "contract area" in which the state contracts for repairs with private crews.

Tom Lentz, a DOT regional maintenance engineer, said the state doesn't tally how many pothole complaints it receives or how many it fills. Fixing the holes aren't as high a priority as a downed sign, Lentz said, unless the roadway is unsafe. "If they're anything significant, we try to fix it within a day," Lentz said.

To report a pothole on state roads on the Eastside, call 440-4490. Redmond, 556-2831

Finding a true pothole on a residential street was difficult. Arterials have bigger problems because of the heavy construction equipment now tooling along city roads.

A call to Redmond's main phone line and just one transfer led to the right person. She said the pothole would be repaired within a couple of working days.

After two days, the problem area had not been repaired, but Jim Cooper, the transportation supervisor, said that the road had significant problems and that the city would wait until the entire section could be repaved. The pothole was not a hazard.

Cooper said the city tries to repair most potholes within 24 hours of a complaint. Redmond, which receives three to four reports of potholes a week, also has a crew that conducts weekly searches for potholes.

"If we can get the public calling in, it actually makes our job easier," Cooper said.

He estimated the city spends $300,000 annually on pothole repair. Woodinville, 489-2700

The City Hall operator will take your name, number and address and ask if you want to be notified when the pothole you reported has been fixed.

Cliff Olson, the city's public-works coordinator and lone pothole patcher, takes care of minor potholes. More serious ones are referred to King County, which contracts its road-maintenance services.

A pothole reported at Northeast 195th Street and 130th Avenue Northeast was fixed within two days, an average response time, Olson said.

Last year, the city patched, or requested that King County patch, 18 potholes. Unincorporated King County, 296-8100

A call to the county road-maintenance division about a large rectangular pothole in the middle of 158th Avenue Northeast near Northeast 160th Street, just outside Woodinville, was handled quickly and easily.

King County handles unincorporated areas and contracts road services to small cities.

The operator was friendly and said someone would go right out to inspect the damage. The hole was patched a few hours later.

Road Services Superintendent Henry Kuga said county workers try to fix potholes in no more than two business days, but large and dangerous ones often are repaired in a matter of hours, he said. The average pothole can be patched in 10 to 30 minutes.

"I consider potholes a nuisance," Kuga said. "I think it's good PR to just fix them expediently."

Another large pothole and several smaller ones reported on the Sammamish Plateau, at Issaquah-Pine Lake Road and Southeast 48th Street, were fixed within one working day. The staffer who took the report even offered to send someone out on overtime if the problem was significant.

The largest one took workers two days to repair. Mike Green, lead worker, phoned on the second day to say the job was complete. Green said his team makes follow-up calls to all citizens who report potholes.

Last year, the county received 681 calls from citizens about potholes, but many others were reported by road crews and police officers, Kuga said. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Seattle Times Eastside bureau reporters Tyrone Beason, Louis T. Corsaletti, Sherry Grindeland, Steve Johnston, J. Martin McOmber, Putsata Reang, Peyton Whitely and Sarah Lopez Williams contributed to this report.