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DOTD fixes potholes after officer crash, but some say it's not enough

7 years 1 month 3 weeks ago Friday, February 03 2017 Feb 3, 2017 February 03, 2017 7:24 PM February 03, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge Police officer, injured in a motorcycle crash after hitting a pot hole Wednesday, is expected to recover from his injuries.

Police say he was escorting an 18-wheeler and hit the pothole...losing control of his bike and ended up hitting another vehicle.

The officer has a broken leg, among other injuries.

Friday, the numerous potholes that caused the wreck, were filled by the DOTD, for what they call routine maintenance.

"The ones at Beechwood and Airline, were fixed today as routine maintenance." said DOTD spokesperson, Rodney Mallett. "Those were not considered emergency potholes, they were about two inches deep, and were fixed as part of our routine maintenance."

However, after Wednesday's motorcycle accident, residents and business owners in the area feel the potholes should have been dealt with a long time, saying they also think they should've qualified for emergency attention a long time ago.

Hip Pham, the owner of Lee's Complete Auto body, owns the shop directly on the corner of the intersection where the officer involved wreck happened.

He say's although it was bad, unfortunately, he sees these accidents often.

"Just last week I saw one where a car was t-boned, right by the red light where the other accident happened, same spot." shared Pham.

Also, noting that he's witnessed more accidents than he can count, during his 10 years of owning the building, that sits on the intersection of Beechwood Drive and Airline Highway.

Regardless of the coincidence, DOTD says the repair of the potholes was simply routine, and nothing more.

However, for those looking to report any emergency road repairs, potholes, or safety hazards,  visit the DOTD claims page here.

You can also call DOTD's statewide toll free highway safety hotline at 1(800)-259-4929

However, the good news for residents and business owners in the area, new improvements are coming soon.

DOTD reported today, this part of the road will be getting a larger scale upgrade later this year, As part of a $7 million-dollar maintenance Overlay project. The length of this project is nearly 4 miles and will include asphalt overlay, guardrail replacement, and pavement patching, such as these potholes.

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