Providence Pothole Claims: $150k Over 3 Years
Friday, December 02, 2011
If you thought the streets of Providence were especially ravaged by potholes in 2011, the evidence wasn’t just anecdotal.
Records show the city was forced to pay out more than $65,000 to drivers who claimed their vehicles were damaged by Providence roads as of August of this year, a more than 70 percent jump in the amount of claims paid for all of 2010.
In total, records show the city has paid out $151,977.58 to drivers who sued the city over the course of the last three years, with 2011 far surpassing the previous two years. In fact, over the last 36 months, three of the five highest claim months came this year; with February 2011 ($27,671.14) nearly doubling the amount claimed in any other month over that time span.
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The months when claims skyrocket come as no surprise. Year after year, February, March and April – the months that generally follow the most severe winter weather - continuously see spikes in the amount of payouts made to those who have had their car damaged.
Following an especially hard-hitting winter this year, records show the city was forced to pay out $52,549.50 in February, March and April, which makes up for more than one-third of the total claims over the last three years.
Now as the city again prepares for winter weather, the Taveras administration says it plans to make addressing potholes a top priority.
“Keeping Providence's streets in good condition is a high priority for the Taveras administration,” city spokesman David Ortiz said. “The city was aggressive about filling potholes as quickly as possible last winter, and that's certainly going to be the case again this winter.”
Resident: I’d Rather Not Drive in City
But some residents claim the city doesn’t do enough to prevent roads from damaging cars every year. Peter Mariner, a 22-year-old college student, told GoLocalProv that he stopped driving his car in the city after potholes popped the tire on his car three times last winter.
While he acknowledges that he may have simply gotten unlucky, Mariner, who grew up just outside of New York City, said he would rather not have to deal with the city’s roads this year. When he returned to Providence this fall, he said he did not bring his car.
“Why would I bother? The roads are horrible here and it’s not just Providence,” he said. “I don’t like taking the bus, but the bus takes bumps better than my car.”
Ortiz acknowledged that roads tend to become more dangerous during the winter season, noting that a snow and ice storm can cause hundreds of potholes to appear throughout the city in a matter of days. Inevitably, that means some cars will sustain damage and as long as a claim is filed within seven days of the incident, a person can have at least some of their repair costs reimburses.
Ortiz said the city will use all the resources it has to fix potholes as quickly as possible, including a program on the city’s website called ProvConnex. Residents who see a damaged street can immediately report it to the city through the program, which the city believes will help streamline the process of fixing the roads.
“We really encourage residents to report potholes through ProvConnex, the city's online customer service application, which is on the main page of the city's website at www.providenceri.com/provconnex,” Ortiz said. “Pothole requests are sent directly to DPW and then tracked electronically until the pothole is fixed and the request is closed out.”
Councilman: A Quality of Life Issue
Permanent repairs to a road cannot be made until weather gets warmer and a cycle of freezing and thawing during the winter creates potholes quickly. But it’s not simply the unavoidable disturbance of potholes in the winter that is a cause for concern for some city lawmakers.
According to Councilman David Salvatore, the city has an infrastructure problem that needs to be addressed. And although Providence’s fiscal problems have been at the forefront of the discussion this year, Salvatore said it’s important not to lose sight of the quality of life issues.
"Providence needs to address its infrastructure problem,” Salvatore said. “It is a critical quality of life issue, hindering economic development and frustrating residents. Further attention should be paid to investing in our city's infrastructure as we continue to monitor and streamline the city's budget. Such improvements will pay dividends in the future by improving our residents' quality of life and reducing the number of claims against the city."
Council President Solomon: Invest in Infrastructure
The cost to fill a pothole, not counting labor, is between $20 and $30. In theory, it would likely be cheaper to simply fill every pothole than be forced to pay out claims to citizens every time their car is damaged. But because the number of potholes tends to exceed the amount of Department of Public Works employees who can help address the issue, the claims are a necessary part of the process.
But Council President Michael Solomon agreed with Salvatore. Solomon said he hopes that as the city begins to emerge from its fiscal problems, more investment will be made into the infrastructure so the numbers claims will go down.
"Claims against the city are inherently linked to maintaining our infrastructure,” Solomon said. “While infrastructure improvements are a high priority, in these tough times discretionary spending is at a premium. Hopefully as we emerge from this recession and revenues increase we will have a greater ability to comprehensively improve our city's infrastructure and reduce claims against the city."
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