Every second of sunshine mattered for public works crews in Contra Costa County Thursday, as they're trying their best to fill as many potholes as possible before the rain returns.
“Since the large storms and they keep coming, we’ve just been on the go,” said Chris Lau with Contra Costa County Public Works.
Lau manages the maintenance division for the county’s public works department.
Lau said roads typically get worse with the winter storms. But he’s seeing an even bigger uptick in road problems this time around, since the storms have been nearly nonstop.
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It’s particularly a problem for rural areas with older roads like many of the ones in Byron.
“We’ll see more issues this time around because there’s such a large volume of water that’s come down. Everything is more wet, potholes will occur,” Lau said.
It’s clear that the new potholes have caught the residents attention.
“The roads are a lot worse. A lot more potholes, which are really bad for a bike, especially a sports bike,” said Noah Masri of Brentwood.
Over in Lafayette, city crews were placing boulders along a portion of St. Mary’s Road to temporarily stabilize an embankment that's being eroded by the rain.
Just like crews on the east side of the county, they’re racing to get it all done, while the weather is dry.
More permanent work will include creating a retaining wall and rock flow to stabilize that embankment.
