LOS ANGELES — The “giant pothole” that Arnold Schwarzenegger said he recently filled in a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood that was actually a trench that had been dug for utility work, according to the city.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Works said in a statement that Southern California Gas Company has temporarily covered the trench with asphalt and will be replaced with a permanent surface.
“We have informed the gas company of the issue and they need to maintain the pavement until their permanent pavement is built,” the statement said.
After months of heavy rains that turned the roads into poppy Swiss cheese for many passengers, Schwarzenegger made a big impression when he released a video of him and a team filling in the hollows of the road with packing asphalt patch.
“Today, after the whole neighborhood was upset about the giant pothole that damaged cars and bikes for weeks, my team and I went out and fixed it,” he wrote on his personal page. Twitter. “I always say, don’t complain, do something about it. For him.”
A passing driver stopped to thank the actor, who also filled in another small hole.
SoCal Gas said in a statement that a pipeline upgrade there was completed on January 26, but rain had permanently delayed paving, which is usually done by about 30 days. The add-on’s team returned to the site on Wednesday, a day after Schwarzenegger posted his video and balanced the patch he completed to make it more powerful. It is expected to complete the permanent paving of the site on Tuesday.
“Work in team. Happy to help speed this up and thanks to the team for helping with my fix,” the former governor tweeted Friday.
