BLOG: Don't Settle for Potholes
Sam Adams
"I want to fill potholes."
I told my staff that the first thing I wanted to do as Portland’s new transportation commissioner was to help fill potholes.
Why? I like to get out and see things up close for myself. And, sexy it is not, but I believe the public is growing weary of funding more special -- even innovative--transportation projects until get on top of basic city services. The city is the equivalent of 12,000 street blocks behind in street maintenance.
I want to send a symbolic message that things will be different from my first hour as the City’s new transportation commissioner.
So, it is 8:00 am, Friday, July 1, my first official day as Commissioner-in-Charge of the Portland Office of Transportation, also known as PDOT.
Zack, or “Z” as he likes to be called, is waiting for me in a white “The City That Works” truck outside City Hall. Z has a shaved head, is 40-years-old and is stocky with a slight accent.
He says, “Good morning, Commissioner,” and shakes my hand with a smile on his face.
I greet him and ask that he call me “Sam.”
He asks me what I want to do.
I say, “Put me to work.”
Looking amused, he says, “Ok, here is your uniform, Sam,” and hands me an orange City of Portland, Bureau of Maintenance coveralls and rubber boots.
We pull away from the curb.
I ask Z about himself. He says his City job classification is Utility Worker 2. He says his accent is Lebanese and that he originally is from Beirut. He has an undergraduate degree in business management.
I ask him why he works for PDOT. He says he likes working outside and the physical aspect of the job. One day he says he might move inside. But, he says, one of his favorite tasks is the one we are about to do, fixing potholes.
“I am outside and I get to go all over the city,” he says.
Heading for the Mt. Tabor area, Z interrupts himself occasionally to point to an “alligator,” many small cracks in pavement. He says a shallow pothole will need a “skin” of asphalt and a big, deep pothole will need a more generous “topping” of it.
As we drive on it, he says SE 60th Avenue is a constant pain to keep up because of the heavy traffic use, and rumor has it there are leaking water pipes underneath the keeps the ground soggy.
That can’t be true, can it? I think to myself.
I ask Z how employee morale is in the bureau. He says it runs the gamut. “For me, growing up in the civil war of the 1980s Lebanon, I know how good I have it now.”
I think to myself, living through a bloody civil war as a kid, that would put life in perspective.
Trish, Z’s coworker, and Pete Schillaci, their supervisor, meet us at SE 35th and Stark.
Steve normally doesn’t work along side the crews he supervises, but today he stopped by to introduce himself to me.
Pete’s already been at work for three hours, organizing the requests that flow in each day.
“We once had 148, we now have 84 people to do the work,” he says. “We work hard to try and keep on top of it.”
Pete says today’s potholes were called into the city’s pothole repair hotline, 503-823-BUMP, two days ago. It is PDOT’s goal to fix as many potholes within 48 hours after they are called in.
Our work begins. I watch as Trish and Z work around each other in well-worn moves.
Trish sweeps the pothole out, dislodging any lose pieces. Z coats the sides and bottom surfaces with a slurry mixture of emulsion or “tack.” Z shovels a hot tar and rock mix called asphalt into the hole from the end of the conveyor belt at the back of the four ton $80,000 truck that keeps hauls the tools and keeps the mixture at a constant 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Trish rakes the mixture smooth using a “lute” asphalt rake. She rakes out the “bones,” scrapes the big rocks off the tops that will not tamp down flat. Z unchains a gas-powered machine shaped like an oversized floor sander nicknamed the “wacker” to compress the asphalt.
A hydraulic ramp lowers the wacker to the ground from its place hanging off the back of the truck. It stamps the hot asphalt until it is level with the existing street. More slurry is sprayed on the edges of the freshly filled pothole to seal the crack. A rough sand mixture is spread across the top to prevent the hot gavel from sticking to tires.
Even though only one pothole on this street was called in to the 503-823-BUMP hotline, Z, Trish and I go after all the potholes on the street we can find on SE 35th. There are plenty.
I help fill the second pothole. We drive to SE Tibbets, between 78th and 82nd streets. I practice slurrying on the third pothole and test my awkward sand throwing techniques on the others.
11:00 am, it’s time for me to go. Pete and I get into his truck and are about to start back to city hall.
A car pulls up in front of us. Someone gets out saying, “Hey, Commissioner: quit fixing the potholes.”
“Huh,” I mutter, thinking I misunderstood her. Now, she is at my window.
“Yeah, quit filling in the potholes.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
She introduces herself as Valerie Ring, a local radio announcer.
“No, the cars will drive faster on the smoother streets,” says Ring. “I know the studies show that neighborhood speeders are usually local residents, but some people are just plain inconsiderate even to their own neighbors. The potholes slow them down.”
I am at a loss for words. I look at Pete for help. He mentions speed bumps to her. She says, “Look around, this neighborhood can’t afford $2,000 per speed bump," and begins to walk away.
I weakly call out after her, “Thanks.” Seemly irritated, she waves to me with the back of her hand as she climbs into her car.
I realize on the drive back to city hall that things are worse than I thought. The potholes and shabby streets in Portland are bad enough. Lowering our expectations about them is worse.
13 potholes filled this morning, countless to go. 
Keep at it Z and Trish and Pete!
Help is on the way.
Posted by Sam Adams on July 6, 2005
(16) Comments | Permalink | TrackBack (1)
Filed Under 100 Hours, Blog, Front Page, Office of Transportation, Southeast Portland (inner), Transportation
Comments by site visitors
Sam, I'm so glad you didn't follow the Schwarzenegger example and have crews dig a pothole just so you could fill it in front of the media:
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to a quiet San Jose neighborhood Thursday, and -- dogged by protesters -- filled a pothole dug by city crews just a few hours before, as part of an attempt to dramatize his efforts to increase money for transportation projects."
And he didn't bother with the sassy orange jumpsuit either.
Full story here.
Posted by: Jessica Roberts | Jul 8, 2005 12:24:29 PM
Awesome, Sam, and everyone else involved. Some of our streets are in terrible repair......I've already tried several times to get our street fixed and am still hoping! If there's anyone out there who can take care of it.....it's NE Mason Street between 73rd and 82nd. Need a major amount of assphalt and gravel for the sides of the road. Thanks!
Posted by: Arnie | Jul 8, 2005 1:25:55 PM
Sam, you always amaze me. Great stuff. How about Front Ave? That is one of the most terrible roads downtown. I am always hearing complaints about it/complaining myself as I drive it many times a day.
Keep up the great work Sam.
Posted by: Bryan Harding | Jul 9, 2005 11:45:33 AM
Sam:
So glad that you are in charge. You have been a great assest to the city. I have asked Vera and Mr. Potter to pave Portland for many years now. It is amazing to me that so many streets are still unpaved in a progressive city like Portland. My biggest concern is Front Ave/Naito Parkway. It is the route that we invite businesses, visitors and our citizens to use daily when we invite them to Portland's Living Room (Pioneer Sq) and every weekend to our front Porch (Waterfront Park) and it is one of the bumpiest and most pot holed streets around. I would think that if we want to continue to keep people coming to Portland and enjoy all the great media coverage about what a wonderful place this is, that we would put a new "welcome mat" down on the entrance to our city.
We seem to be able to close it at the drop of a hat for every event, city project, gutter cleaning, etc... Why could we not find a way to pave it for the 1000's of cars and people that use it everyday.
Just take a drive down from the I-5 entrance to the Steel Bridge and you will see what I mean. Make sure to put on your helmet, seat belt and maybe a mouth gaurd before you take this trip.
Cheers to you and thank you for thinking about making the entrance to your city a little better. I know that this would be a HUGE project, but it would serve all the members and visitors to our community with a great first impression this this wonderful city.
Posted by: Dylan Thurston | Jul 9, 2005 2:41:48 PM
Is Front paving on hold because of the redesign of the park and street?
Posted by: cab | Jul 11, 2005 12:25:15 PM
dear mr. adams,
thank you for fielding my comments...the street in dire need of repair that we discussed at burgerville is s.e. 80th ave, roughly between s.e. mill and s.e. harrison....
a few feet north of mill will reveal some added surface damage, but not to the degree of disrepair and "heaving" in the area mentioned above..
this sidewalk-less strip of road is very dangerous to walk on, as traffic shows little respect for pedestrian safety..cars jam the area on rainy schoolyear mornings, requiring kids to negotiate the small flash-flooded areas....some of the biggest pot-holes i have seen are here, as well as loose gravel and valleys which hold rain water for days, making an even bigger mess.....the disrepair also encourages litter and other wastes...the area looks as though it might be forgotten, so passersby don't respect the street, and litter it.
i have mailed photos to you and appreciate anything you could do to help us out in the meantime to fill the holes...
i realize the street repair is phenomenally expensive, and given that this is an "unimproved" road district, the 10 or so home-owners abutting the right-of-way, would not be able to afford the required surcharges, in my opinion..
.....as far as the litter goes, neither you nor i can change human behavior, but at least in the short term, i can make a difference by continuing to pick up trash in the area..i placed a SOLV placard at both ends of the strip, but one was stolen!...that one that remains is helping, i think..
again,
my many thanks to you, and keep up the great job you are doing, mr. adams..
regards,
keith l. miller, o.d.
s.e. portland.
Posted by: keith miller, o.d. | Jul 11, 2005 3:40:54 PM
I hope that when Ms. Ring bends the frame of her car when she hits a pothole doing 35 mph she wil remember when she was stupid enough to say "Don't fill up the potholes."
Posted by: robert duckham | Jul 12, 2005 3:43:31 AM
Great Job Sam! I'm glad you went out and actually worked with a City maintenance crew. I've had the pleasure of working with the some 400+ maintenance employees for nearly 15 years and they are a very dedicated and professional group that work in a variety of challenging conditions.
I worry about the rapid rate our transportation system is deterrioring. We fix potholes in 72 hours, but potholes are not the real problem - it's just an indicator of a bigger problem. Many of Portland's streets were built between 50 and 100 years ago, and are well beyond their useful life. They were never built for the weights and volumes of traffic they see today. Many of the streets have a base support that is inadequate to carry the kinds of traffic it does today. Maintenance crews do a superb job in keeping our streets usable, but with the lack of adequate funding through the current gas tax, more and more miles of streets are falling behind in maintenance.
I realize that it is the State Legislature that is responsible for increasing the state gas tax. Prior to 1991, the Legislature increased the gas tax 2 cents (1+1) every two years, which certainly helped to keep pace with an aging system and increased growth. The legislature has failed to increase the gas tax since 1991. This means city transportation dollars have lost 43% of their buying power, and that is using today's consumer price index. If you look at construction costs, asphalt and other materials, inflation in construction has grown at a higher rate than the CPI.
I know there are competing priorities for the precious tax dollar of our citizens - education, public safety, the environment, but to realize that the citizen's $5.9 billion dollar investment is at risk and will require five times the investment in reconstruction if not maintained at an adequate level, it concerns me. That's not the legacy or burden I want to leave for my son. I realize, as a city employee, I have access to this information, but it's available to everyone through the city's website.
A transportation system is the foundation for a livable city, economic development, environmental protection, freight mobility, neighborhood livability, access to jobs, school, recreation, land use and so much more. I am elated you are the new transportation commissioner and look forward to the opportunity to address these critical issues.
Posted by: Mary Volm | Jul 12, 2005 11:50:56 AM
I believe Front Ave. paving is scheduled for January 2006. It is a very expensive project due to the exponential costs involved in fixing a very poor road vs. a fair condition road. Front, as we all know, is in very poor condition.
Posted by: Jesse Beason | Jul 12, 2005 2:34:21 PM
Speed bumps (and potholes):
Slow emergency vehicles
Increase fuel consumption
Increase travel times
Are an insult to reason
Please keep fixing roads instead of obstructing them. My favorite example of a bad street is W. Burnside from I405 to about NW 23rd. Luckily I have a compact SUV...
Posted by: Don Sparks | Jul 13, 2005 2:37:42 PM
I grew up in SW...Multnomah...where potholes were our "random speed bumps"...cheap, no maintenance and guaranteed to penalize folks who ran our street too fast.
Sox, our dog, also liked to sleep in the potholes to wait for cars to chase!
Don't fill them all!
Posted by: Lenny | Aug 1, 2005 3:46:59 PM
I heard you speak about our economy, our streets and our community at City Club and agreed. More than just TALKING- you continue to ACT. You are returning the notion of public service to what it used to be- an honerable profession. KUDOS to you, and to the city staffers that work so hard to try to keep our city running with fewer and fewer resources (and NO, I am not a government employee!). Let me know how I can help do even more to partner with you and others who have a vision for our community.
Thanks-
Posted by: Scott Seibert | Aug 2, 2005 5:38:12 PM
Regarding Ms. Ring's comments: my last car was driven for four years in Tualatin. After that period the car was still in perfect shape with nary a squeak or rattle. Two years of driving it over the rough streets of Portland and it sounded like a 1952 farm truck. This city's roads literally beat the car to death.
Potholes aren't the only issue. Poor planning and workmanship on the part of PDOT are just as much to blame. Two or three years ago, the section of SE 39th between Powell and Division was repaved, but the road wasn't graded prior to this. Instead a thin veneer of asphalt was laid down on top of the existing pavement. That same winter, snowplows pulled up the shoddy work, leaving rough edges and potholes that were far worse than the original unrepaired road. They remained in this condition until this last month. Also, a couple of years ago, the section of 50th between Powell and Division was repaved (quite well this time, I might add) and within a month workers were out cutting sections out of it, leaving behind bumps and patchwork in the previously pristine asphalt. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems reasonable that the crew doing the repaving could have somehow been notified of plans for laying pipe (or whatever the cutting was for) and rescheduled those events to occur in a more sensible order.
Posted by: Cliff Wells | Aug 19, 2005 4:25:41 AM
HI COMMISH SAM
MY WIFE AND I ARE BOTH ON DISABILITY
AND OFTEN SEE POTHOLES IN PORTLAND'S
STREETS. WE WOULD BE GLAD TO VOLUNTEER
TO FILL THEM IF YOU COULD FIGURE A WAY
TO PROVIDE THE NEEDED SUPPLIES,
LIKE THE BAGGED ASPHALT AND MAYBE A GAS
POWERED COMPACTOR W/SMALL TRALER,SAFETY
CONES,AND A LIST OF LOCATIONS.
WE ARE AWARE OF THE DANGERS AND KNOW HOW TO PROTECT OURSELVES WHILE WORKING.
WE ARE LIFE LONG OREGONIANS AND WOULD LOVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE PORTLAND ROAD SUFACES.
HOW'S THAT FOR COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
FOR THE BUDGET??
WE'RE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT OUR OFFER.
PLEASE TAKE IT SERIOUS.
WE KNOW OF AREAS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN REPAIRED FOR OVER 5 YEARS, THAT ARE HAZARDOUS TO PEDS, MOTORCYCLES,ANDCARS.
THANK YOU,
DOUG ADAMS
Posted by: DOUG ADAMS | Nov 28, 2005 5:14:43 PM
Hello Sam:
This is "Z". As Always we are still woking on fixing holes. Take care,
Z
Posted by: Zack Maysi | Dec 16, 2005 3:25:35 PM
Post your comment
Please note: your email address, although required to post, will not be visible. We remove inappropriate or offensive content, and content deemed improper by State and City election and ethics law. The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of the office or the City of Portland.
What a great example for everyone! This is in the spirit of Mayor Willie Brown's ". . . if I have to drive the bus myself . . ." except that Commissioner Sam has really driven the proverbial bus himself by shoveling asphalt!
Relatively speaking, Portland does not have many potholes. Having lived in many places (Santa Fe, Amarillo, Waco, Houston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Portland), I can tell you that we do not have a significant pothole problem. That being said, they should be filled, and I am grateful for the fill-job done on the one outside my house on Riverside.
While Ms. Ring is correct in her observation that potholes do slow traffic, I do not believe that potholes are a good traffic control mechanism. I have visited neighborhoods in suburban Buenos Aires, where the potholes are NEVER repaired, in an attempt to reduce home burglary.
I believe that it would be better to address fundamental issues producing the high burglary incidence in Buenos Aires (i.e. poverty) rather than fostering potholes in a neighborhood. Similarly, Portland neighborhood traffic control should be sought in a more civilized manner.
Finally, while potholes do slow traffic, they are a great hazard to bicyclists. I recently flattened both tires at once on a pothole near Multnomah Falls. It is not the depth of the hole but rather the sharpness and architecture of the edge that pose the risk.
Thanks, to Commissioner Sam, for his great example and hard work!
Posted by: Curtis Thompson, M.D. | Jul 7, 2005 3:52:56 PM