TACOMA, Wash. — No matter where you are driving today you might end up dealing with this: potholes and uneven roads.
It turns out it's a particular problem on Browns Point Boulevard on the north side of Tacoma. That’s where Kenneth Krell lives.
He sent this message for our Send Shanté series:
"Browns Point Blvd. in northeast Tacoma is a dangerous road. It is full of potholes and failed repairs and is used by many heavy, oversized commercial vehicles, so in general, it’s just a mess."
“It's beautiful out here, and people like to live here, and people want to live here,” said Krell. “It just seems like it'd be nice to have a nice road.”
Krell said the road is narrow in some places, plagued by potholes, uneven surfaces, and areas of overgrowth.
One fix he would like to see is having the road resurfaced.
“When you drive on it, you really think you’re going to rattle your car apart. It doesn't happen, but you get that feeling,” said Krell.
Throughout his seven years living in the area, Krell has put in several requests to the City of Tacoma to fill potholes, but he said it’s usually a temporary fix.
“They’ve done a lot of patching and hole filling, so those things are always rough and bumpy, and they don't last a long time sometimes,” added Krell.
KING 5’S Shanté Sumpter took Krell’s concerns to the City of Tacoma. They sent this statement:
"Browns Point Boulevard spans over 3.6 miles (8.9 lane miles) with an average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 26 out of 100, indicating it primarily falls into the reconstruction category. At this time, there are no specific plans to reconstruct Browns Point Boulevard due to a level of need across a variety of critical service areas in all communities, including Tacoma, that continues to outpace available resources. The City of Tacoma continues to actively pursue funding opportunities, including grants, for roadway improvement and maintenance projects while considering the financial implications for taxpayers."
The city uses three categories to determine the maintenance of a road.
Based on their metrics, 43% of the city’s roads are considered good, 27% are fair, and 30% are poor.
“We pay a pretty good property tax out here, and it'd be nice to see some maintenance money being used on the roads, which everybody has to utilize,” added Krell.
As the city continues to pursue funding opportunities, it recommends residents use its Customer Support Center to report road issues.
“They’re pretty good about coming out and repairing when you call them for a pothole, but they seem like they will only deal with the potholes you mentioned,” added Krell. “They don't observe the other ones that are around and fill those too. So, if you just report two on the corner, they'll fill two on the corner, while there could be a couple down the road, just a little way that they probably drove through themselves.”
About the repair process, the City of Tacoma said this:
"Once a community member has reported a pothole, a temporary patching crew is typically dispatched within five days to address the issue. The crew will typically repair potholes within a few blocks of the reported location. On average, Street Operations temporarily repairs 16,500 to 17,000 potholes per year and permanently repairs 3,000 to 3,500.
As for vegetation management within the right-of-way, this is generally the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. If the City receives a vegetation complaint, it will verify ownership of the adjacent property. If the adjacent property is City-owned, City crews will address the issue. If the adjacent property is privately owned, the complaint will be forwarded to Code Enforcement officers."
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