Movie star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made headlines earlier this week by personally filling in a pothole near his Los Angeles home.
Except it wasn’t a pothole, the city said, but rather a service trench used by utility company SoCal Gas.
The former governor tweeted out a video Tuesday showing him and a few others filling in a large hole on a street in Brentwood. In the post, Mr. Schwarzenegger said that the hole had bothered his wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood for weeks.
“Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it,” the former bodybuilding star wrote. “I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go.”
Unfortunately, soon after the video was posted, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works told local media that the hole was actually a service trench.
“This location is not a pothole. It’s a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May,” a spokesperson told NBC Los Angeles.
“As is the case with similar projects impacting City streets, SoCal Gas will be required to repair the area once their work is completed,” the spokesperson said.
In response, Daniel Ketchell, a spokesperson for the actor, said that Brentwood residents had made repeated calls for the hole to be repaired with no response.
L.A. has received nearly 20,000 pothole repair requests since the start of the year due to wet winter weather that has left roads in shabby condition.
Repair response time under more normal conditions is usually 1-3 days, according to the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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