{"id":707,"date":"2019-04-10T22:18:21","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T22:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/04\/10\/2019410a-plague-of-potholes-neglect-underfunding-and-a-harsh-winter-leaves-hamden-roads-in-ruins-by-kristina-mendoza-cabrera\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:33:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:33:18","slug":"2019410a-plague-of-potholes-neglect-underfunding-and-a-harsh-winter-leaves-hamden-roads-in-ruins-by-kristina-mendoza-cabrera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/04\/10\/2019410a-plague-of-potholes-neglect-underfunding-and-a-harsh-winter-leaves-hamden-roads-in-ruins-by-kristina-mendoza-cabrera\/","title":{"rendered":"A Plague of Potholes: Neglect, underfunding and a harsh winter leaves Hamden roads in ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:624.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:73.55769348144531%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/take-2.png\" alt=\"Potholes just off of Sherman Avenue  Photo by Kristina Mendoza-Cabrera\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/take-2.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/take-2.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"624x459\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Potholes just off of Sherman Avenue  Photo by Kristina Mendoza-Cabrera\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5cae557c8165f5284db95e10\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Potholes just off of Sherman Avenue<\/p>\n<p>Photo by Kristina Mendoza-Cabrera<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Dodging, weaving, and swerving left and right. This isn\u2019t the description of race car drivers approaching their final lap on the track&#8211; it\u2019s one of Quinnipiac students driving along Mount Carmel Avenue trying to make it to class in one piece. The obstacle in their way? Potholes, which only seem to grow in size and number at the end of every winter. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Superintendent of Streets for Hamden\u2019s Public Works Department Joseph Longobardi said that while potholes are a year-long problem, they occur more frequently during the late winter into spring, due to the change in weather. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cDuring the winter you have the rain and then it freezes, and it tends to pop the asphalt. That\u2019s when the potholes occur and the complaints start coming in,\u201d Longobardi said. \u201cWe\u2019re filling them (the potholes) from then all the way to the fall.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">There are two trucks that maintain approximately 228 miles of road, one in the north end of town and one in the south. With these two vehicles, the public works department has filled 322 potholes from Jan. 3 to April 4 of this year. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The process of filling and refilling these road hazards is a long one and it depends on weather conditions as well as the availability of materials. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">While the pothole is preferably filled with hot asphalt mix, which has long-lasting properties, it is often not available in the colder months. If this is the case, as it is in Hamden, repairs are made with other materials like cold patch, a mixture of stone and oil, and then revisited in warmer months. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Longobardi said the department uses the cold patch to maintain the roads for the winter while the asphalt plants are closed. When the plants reopen at the end of May, they can begin using the hot asphalt as a more permanent patch. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Constant maintenance of the roads is not enough to keep the complaints at bay. In fact, they\u2019re a daily occurrence. There are currently 136 pothole reports on <a href=\"https:\/\/seeclickfix.com\/issues\/5344173-road-pothole-repair\" target=\"_blank\">SeeClickFix<\/a>. Yesterday, that number was 122.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"\n  sqs-gallery-container\n  sqs-gallery-block-slideshow\n  \n  \n  \n  \n\n  \n    sqs-gallery-block-show-meta sqs-gallery-block-meta-position-bottom-left\n    sqs-gallery-block-meta-hover\n  \n  sqs-gallery-block-show-meta\n  \n  \n\n  \n  \n\n  \n  block-animation-none\n  clear\"\n  \n  \n><\/p>\n<div class=\"sqs-gallery\">\n<div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\">\n<p>                <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Sherman-ave.png\" alt=\"Potholes off of Sherman Avenue\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Sherman-ave.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Sherman-ave.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"384x498\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Potholes off of Sherman Avenue\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5cae603b4e17b60edb989828\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"meta-inside\">\n<div class=\"meta-title\">Potholes off of Sherman Avenue<\/div>\n<div class=\"meta-description\">\n<p>Photos by Kristina Mendoza-Cabrera<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"color-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\">\n<p>                <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Dirt-road-house.png\" alt=\"Dirt road house.PNG\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Dirt-road-house.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Dirt-road-house.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"472x594\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Dirt road house.PNG\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5cae6043773cf1000121a9a9\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"color-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cI normally drive pretty fast, but that\u2019s all changed since coming to school here,\u201d Quinnipiac junior Jaysa Quinlivan said. \u201cI feel like I have to be so careful to avoid the huge potholes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Sometimes, the consequences are more than a little jostling. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cI\u2019ve messed up my car severely&#8211; my bumper was all scratched up,\u201d Quinnipiac senior and New Road resident Sarah Foley said. \u201cThere are times when I\u2019ve considered walking to school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">And while the list of complaints is never-ending, the current resources for attending to the issue only go so far. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"> \u201cThere are many roads that we do need to pave, but it\u2019s the budget,\u201d Longobardi said. \u201cThe budget and money is the concern.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Records of the Town of Hamden show the budget for the entire public works department&#8211; not just the sector that works on pothole repair&#8211; is approximately $10.4 million, or 4.9 percent of the overall budget. For comparison, the Board of Education receives $82.7 million and makes up 39 percent of the budget. Debt services which make-up &nbsp;9.3 percent of the budget, get $19.7 million, according to the Town of Hamden\u2019s \u201cCitizen\u2019s Guide to the Budget.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"\n  sqs-gallery-container\n  sqs-gallery-block-slideshow\n  \n  \n  \n  \n\n  \n    sqs-gallery-block-show-meta sqs-gallery-block-meta-position-bottom-left\n    sqs-gallery-block-meta-hover\n  \n  sqs-gallery-block-show-meta\n  \n  \n\n  \n  \n\n  \n  block-animation-none\n  clear\"\n  \n  \n><\/p>\n<div class=\"sqs-gallery\">\n<div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\">\n<p>                <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Old-Pie-Chart.jpg\" alt=\"A breakdown of Hamden's budget\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Old-Pie-Chart.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Old-Pie-Chart.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"669x489\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"A breakdown of Hamden's budget\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5cae583ef4acf60001971c78\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"meta-inside\">\n<div class=\"meta-title\">A breakdown of Hamden&#8217;s budget<\/div>\n<div class=\"meta-description\">\n<p>Photo via Town of Hamden<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"color-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide content-fit\" data-type=\"image\" data-click-through-url=\"\">\n<p>                <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Pie-Chart-1.png\" alt=\"Pie Chart 1.PNG\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Pie-Chart-1.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Pie-Chart-1.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"950x280\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Pie Chart 1.PNG\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5cae5847ec212d044526cb9d\" data-type=\"image\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"color-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Still, the public works department <em>works<\/em> with what it has. Along with roads like Todd Street, Shepard Street and Sherman Avenue, the department has been filling potholes along Mount Carmel Avenue since March. The back roads from Quinnipiac\u2019s main campus to the North Haven campus are especially ravaged. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cThe back roads leading from Mount Carmel to Hartford Turnpike? We were on that for a week and a half,\u201d Longobardi said. \u201cWe laid 20 tons of asphalt on that and it didn\u2019t even make a dent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">This is particularly bad news for students like Quinnipiac senior Erin Redding, who has classes in North Haven twice a week. The 15-minute commute is one she dreads.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a horrible road. The potholes are just unavoidable because there\u2019s so many,\u201d Redding said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m ruining my car every time I drive there, but I don\u2019t have a choice.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">And it\u2019s not only students who are exasperated. Hamden resident James Wise, a mechanic at Firestone Complete Auto Care, says he can\u2019t even count the number of cars he\u2019s seen this month that have tire damage due to potholes. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cA lot of people have been coming in with their tires busted,\u201d Wise said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had quite a few people coming in and complaining about potholes here.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">One of those people was his aunt, Valerie Harold, who lives on West Side Drive and busted her tire after hitting a pothole.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cIt was crazy,\u201d Wise said. \u201cI had to replace her lower control arm and everything underneath after the whole wheel fell out.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Nick Froso, another mechanic at Firestone Complete Auto Care, spoke to the cost of repair for tire damage. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cImmediately it\u2019s like $175 &nbsp;just for a mechanic to look at it. A new rim costs an average of $400 to $500 apiece,\u201d Froso said. \u201cDepending on the car, it\u2019s anywhere from that price and the sky\u2019s the limit.\u201d <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The same cannot be said for what\u2019s to be done about Hamden\u2019s potholes. With an insufficient budget, there is only so much the department can do for road repair. Most of the efforts seem to go toward preventing the damage from growing worse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">For those like Longobardi, the constant filling and refilling of potholes using cold and hot patch feels like an ongoing battle. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like a lot, but we do what we can for now and hope it holds over,\u201d Longobardi said.<\/p>\n<p>   <iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EUwgZseEcfo?wmode=opaque&amp;enablejsapi=1\" height=\"480\" width=\"854\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Hamden roads and streets have taken a beating this winter and with spring comes pothole season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[7,362,363,65],"class_list":["post-707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hamden","category-quinnipiac","tag-hamden","tag-potholes","tag-public-works-office","tag-town-of-hamden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2110,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions\/2110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}