The Story of a Pothole

Thanks to Hurricane Florence, there is a rather large pothole on Howe St. at the E. Leonard St. intersection. This is a result of a failed storm drain that runs across Howe St. and down Leonard St. You may have come across this pothole in the road on your travels. Literally.

As some of you may know, the street and storm drain are maintained by NCDOT. And, while the Highway Maintenance Division came over a year ago to work on the pothole and repair the storm drain, they have never repaved it.

The City of Southport has lovingly maintained the pothole by keeping it filled with gravel in hopes that DOT would come and fix the issue.

With our sewer project in full force, we are using this very intersection as part of our detour route and it’s taking one heck of a beating. The rain has not been kind to the pothole either.

Now, it just so happens that our sewer line runs beneath the storm drain. In just a few months our sewer contractor will be digging up the exact spot of the pothole. Once the sewer construction is complete on this block, we will be paving the pothole as part of our project. So, while the sewer line isn’t the cause of the pothole, it will ultimately be the salvation of it.

Until then, the City will keep up with the care and feeding of the pothole as best we can. Please continue to be patient as we move forward towards the solution to this long overdue repair and the end of the saga of the pothole.