If you've traveled College Parkway westbound and merged North on Rt 2, you are familiar with the gaping pothole that emerged in the spring of 2019. When I first reached out to the State Highway Administration(SHA), they inspected the pothole and determined a permanent fix could not be done until the FY21 budget kicked in, as their funding pot for this sort of fix had been spent with the fiscal year coming to a close.
Here we are, nearly two years from my initial communication, and it seems the permanent repair is going to take place in just a few short months (June/July).
So what's happened?
It turns out the infamous pothole is more than just a pothole. It's what SHA calls a "washout", when an underground pipe is leaking/broken and the water washes away the soil that serves as part of the foundation for the asphalt.
Instead of a surface asphalt repair, permits are required to work in this area which added additional time. In addition, SHA shared that these types of repairs are treated by priority across the state, with the larger more severe holes getting attention first, and that this hole repair was also delayed due to stream regulations. Because of the proximity to a nearby stream, work could not be done during the spawning season.
I look forward to the day I can close this 2yr old open case in our constituent files and the drivers leaving the Broadneck Peninsula no longer have to navigate a merge lane that could swallow a front tire or has a barrier of construction cones.
